India News

New Delhi: A diary belonging to former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda shows names of various politicians with monetary transactions with them.

A case was registered against Koda and eight others by the Enforcement Directorate of IT department on October 10 for alleged money laundering, diversion of state funds and indulging in huge illegal investments abroad.

The diary also has a name Lalu written on it. Transactions have been made on his name also.

“Fortunately the investigation is going towards the right direction. We have the list of names from the diary. We have extracted the names of some politicians who have been beneficiary like Lalu''s name was written in the diary. That is a part of the High Court''s record.

“We cannot say who exactly is Lalu but he must be someone who is behind making or damaging the government. Payments must have been made to him," said Rajeev Kumar, a lawyer of the Ranchi High Court.

However, RJD chief Lalu Prasad told reporters that investigations should be carried out on all those whose names are mentioned in the diary.

“It''s good. If the diary has been found, investigations should be carried out on all those people whose names are mentioned in the diary''s pages. It shows everyone must have been part of this crime,” said Lalu Prasad.

Officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) of India''s Income Tax (IT) Department have sealed Koda''s residence at Ranchi.

Later, Koda complained of health complications such as pain in his abdomen, giddiness, nausea, and vomiting, and was admitted in a city hospital on Tuesday (November 03).

The former state chief minister has been shifted from ICU to general ward on Thursday (November 05).

New Delhi: National Knowledge Commission Sam Pitroda today said that there is a need to adopt the traditional Indian model in the healthcare system for a comprehensive solution to our healthcare shortcomings, as it has shown a remarkable improvement in some of the important healthcare indices.

Speaking at a health summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here today, Pitroda proposed a ten-point agenda to reach out to the ‘bottom of the pyramid’, and defended the need for adopting the traditional healthcare system for the masses, saying the Western method of healthcare reaches only the ‘top of the pyramid’.

While stressing the need to form healthcare communication and healthcare education, and research facilities related to health, Pitroda said the key is to lay out a plan to implement the target.

Pitroda also called for setting up working groups at state levels, particularly at district levels, to ensure wider reach of healthcare facilities. ”If we do not have a plan ready for the state and district levels, we can expect little success in this regard,” he maintained.

During his speech, Pitroda also said that the government is prepared to collaborate but, more importantly, we need a viable plan.

New Delhi: The Government on Thursday decided that all profitable listed Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) should meet the mandatory listing of 10 percent public ownership.

It has also been decided that all unlisted CPSEs having positive networth, no accumulated losses and having a net profit in the three preceding consecutive years should get listed on the stock exchanges.

The decision was disclosed by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram after the meeting of Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA). 

The disinvestment proceeds would be channelized into the National Investment Fund (NIF). 

The CCEA also fixed the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for rabi crops of 2009-2010 season to be marketed in 2010-11.

The MSP of wheat has been fixed at Rs.1100 per quintal marking an increase of Rs.20 per quintal over the last year’s MSP.

The MSP of Barley has been fixed at Rs.750 per quintal and of Gram at Rs. 1760 per quintal marking an increase of Rs.70 per quintal and Rs.30 per quintal respectively over the last year’s MSPs.

The MSP of Safflower has been fixed at Rs.1680 per quintal marking an increase of Rs.30 per quintal over the last year’s MSP.

Kanpur: After the attack on Sri Lankan cricket team in Pakistan earlier this year, the Sri Lankan Cricket Board is leaving no stones unturned to ensure their team''s safety during the island nation''s Test and ODI tour in India starting this month.

A special Security Consultant, Lorence Fernando, has flown to India and is visiting various States to review the security arrangements in the stadiums where the Sri Lankan team is scheduled to play.

He visited Kanpur on Thursday and expressed satisfaction at the security arrangements that he has been promised.

“I''m visiting all the district associations, our team is visiting ten states. So, I''m happy with the arrangements made by the district associations and also by the senior police officers, in charge. We have discussed the matter at length and I''m sure they will have very good security here,” Fernando said.  

Earlier in March, six Sri Lankan cricketers and their British assistant coach were wounded when militants attacked their bus in Lahore.

The Sri Lanka team will arrive in India on November 8 and play tests in Ahmedabad, Kanpur and Mumbai.

Mumbai: The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have reportedly reached a broad understanding on the portfolio allocation in Maharashtra and a new government is expected to be sworn in tomorrow.

 This should put an end to the uncertainty that has prevailed since the declaration of the results on October 22. NCP''s negotiator Praful Patel said today that both the parties are close to finalising the agreement and a formal decision would be made.

 Ahmed Patel from the Congress and Praful Patel from the NCP were engaged in talks in New Delhi until late Wednesday night discussing the deal and waiting for the nod from the Congress high command.

The polling will be held on Saturday in 31 constituencies spread over these seven states.

Out of these, 11 seats are in Uttar Pradesh, 10 in West Bengal, 3 in Kerala, 2 each in Assam, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan and one in Chattisgarh.

Polling for the by-election to the Firozabad Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh will also be held on Saturday. The counting of votes will be done on Nov 10.

Meanwhile, in Kerala, campaigning for the by polls in Kannur, Ernakulam and Allappuzha assembly constituencies in the state ends today. The candidates are making their last ditch efforts to win the voters in these constituencies.

Kannore, Eranakuralm and Alleppey assembly constituencies will go to the poll on Saturday and the results will be declared on November 10.

The allegations and counter allegations of irregularities in the voters list, replacement of the Kannore District Collector and the deployment of central Paramilitary forces marked the intense political tussle of this bye-election.

 Neck to neck fight will be witnessed in all the three constituencies between the Congress led United Democratic Front and the CPIM led Left Democratic Front. BJP is also in the fray.

Tight security is in place in all the constituencies. By poll was necessitated in the three constituencies following the election of sitting MLAs to the Lok Sabha in the last general elections.

In West Bengal, campaigning for by-election in the 10 assembly seats will come to an end today. The voting will take place on November 14.

 The State Chief Electoral Officer, Debasish Sen said that altogether 49 candidates are in the fray and over 19 lakh 50 thousand voters are eligible to cast their franchise. 2407 polling stations have been set up, he added.

New Delhi: The government has introduced a new mechanism for monitoring the wholesale price movement, under which the inflation of primary articles including food grains, pulses and vegetables declined to 0.11 percent during the week ending October 24.

As per the new system, the weekly wholesale price index data would cover only primary articles and commodities in the broad group- fuel, power, light and lubricants, an official statement said.

Besides, the monthly price index covering all the commodities for October would be released on November 12, in accordance with the decision taken by the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs as per the official statement.

Mumbai: The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) benchmark Sensex today fell over by 184 points as the funds and retail investors preferred to book the profits amid weak Asian markets.

Fear of rise in inflation, the weekly data released later today, also cast its shadow on the trading sentiments.

The Sensex, which had gained 507.19 points in Wednesday''s trade, slipped by 184.08 points to 15,728.05 in the opening trade.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty also drifted by 52.15 points to 4,658.65.

The brokers said that the spell of profit-taking by funds and general investors after Wednesday''s gains, and losses in the other Asian markets dampened the trading sentiments here.

Stocks of metals, banking, auto, oil and gas, realty and the FMCG sectors, which had recorded handsome in Wednesday''s trade, succumbed to profit-booking.

Among the metal stocks, Sterlite Industries fell by 0.14 percent to Rs 769, Tata Steel by 0.23 percent to Rs 468.25 and Hindalco by 1.34 percent to Rs 117.55.

The other major losers that dragged the Sensex down were Reliance Industries by 01.86 percent to Rs 1885, Infosys Technologies by 1.32 percent to Rs 2210, State Bank of India (SBI) by 0.94 percent to Rs 2,143 and DLF Ltd by 1.81 percent to Rs 358.50.

New Delhi: The court battle between the Ambani brothers will begin afresh today, after two judges of the Supreme Court rescued themselves from two separate cases on Wednesday, citing possible conflict of interest.

Justice B Sudarshan Reddy has replaced Justice Raveendran. The three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan will start hearing the RIL-RNRL case afresh.

Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani are battling over the delivery of gas from the Krishna Basin. Mukesh wants to revise the price of gas at which Anil can buy from him. The price agreed upon is below market rates, and was arrived at through a family agreement.

When the case came up before the courts last month, Justice Raveendran told the court that he had shares in Mukesh Ambani''s RIL and offered to withdraw from the case if anyone had any objection.

 "I came to know that my daughter is a partner in AZB Company. This company is advising RIL on global acquisitions. Though it is not directly connected with the case, I don''t want to continue with the case," said Justice Raveendran.

The high-voltage legal battle between the Ambani brothers has entered its third week of hearing.

Justice Raveendran, one of the judges hearing the Ambani vs. Ambani case, dropped out of the case yesterday.

After hearing the judgement for almost two months, Supreme Court Judge Markandey Katju dropped out of the case involving Mukesh Ambani''s Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) on Wednesday.

The case from which Justice Katju withdrew related to a dispute over the price of naphtha supplied by the state-owned Bharat Petroleum to Reliance Industries.

New Delhi: A delegation of the Shiromani Akali Dal led by Punjab Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal met Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) here, urging their intervention in the prolonged 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases.

Talking to reporters, Badal said that the Congress-led government has failed to bring to justice those responsible for attacks on Sikhs after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi 25 years ago.

"Inspite of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) proceeding against Congress leaders Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler, none of them has yet been brought to book," he added.

"Even after 25 years not a single culprit has been put behind bars. Even Nanavati report recommended registration of case against Sajjan Kumar, it''s taken CBI four years till date. Challans have not been put in court. The CBI has requested the government of India permission to prosecute but the government of India is not giving permission. Why? Because everyone knows in 1984 riots who is behind it and they want to shield the culprits," said Badal.

He urged the NHRC to ask the Central government to speed up the trial of criminal cases against the accused, as recommended by the Nanavati Commission.

"We requested the Human Rights Commission to actively pursue these cases and be a part of this in court so that actual views can be put forward by them also as well as by various lawyers," said Badal.

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday put on hold a planned narco test of Communist Party of India-Maoist leader Kobad Ghandy till December 14.

Justice Indermeet Kaur said the narco-analysis test would not be conducted till December 14, the next date of hearing.

Ghandy had filed an appeal on Wednesday challenging the October 21 order of a lower court that he undergo a narco test.

Earlier, the trial court had permitted Delhi Police to conduct a narco test on Ghandy, after an investigating agency contended that it had not been able to collect all information from him despite the use of scientific methods of interrogation.

The court had passed the order after going through a medical report submitted by the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) that stated that Ghandy was medically fit to undergo the test.

Ghandy, who heads the CPI (Maoist) publication wing, was nabbed in South Delhi following inputs from intelligence agencies. He has been a part of the People''s War Group (PWG) since the 1960s.

New Delhi: The weeklong imbroglio in Karnataka’s political arena, due to ongoing fight between Chief Minister B.S.Yeddyurappa and the mining magnets Reddy brothers, is likely to end today following a meeting of the State Chief Minister with BJP leader Sushma Swaraj in the capital.

Yeddurappa is scheduled to meet BJP President Rajnath Singh at noon. 

“The issue will be resolved by the evening”, said Yeddyurappa, who was confident of remaining the Chief Minister of the State.

CM Yeddyurappa had an hour-long meeting with Sushma Swaraj at her residence.  He said a number of suggestions were made during the discussions.  The suggestions made by her and Venkaiah Naidu would be taken up for discussion during his meeting with BJP President Rajnath Singh. 

The Reddy brothers, who have their mines in Bellary, are reported to be close to Sushma Swaraj, who contested Lok Sabha polls from the mining town. 

Yeddyurappa has also held discussions with senior party leaders M Venkaiah Naidu and Arun Jaitley.

On Wednesday, Yeddyurappa opted to reach out to the dissidents’ camp in an effort to patch up the differences. He held meetings with Ananth Kumar, who he said is in the forefront to find a solution to the issues.

He sent out a message to the dissidents through media saying he would meet the mining magnate Reddy brothers, who are leading the rebel camp, to resolve the crisis. The national leaders would indicate the time of such meetings, he informed the media.

Source ANI

Hyderabad: Australian cricket skipper Ricky Ponting has said that if the current squad came away with a series win against India despite the string of injuries, it would simply be an ''''amazing effort'''' on the part of the boys.

“If you consider everything that''s happened to us over the last couple of weeks, it would be an amazing effort if this group of players were good enough to get over the line,'''' The Age quoted Ponting, as saying.

''''I think we showed the other night (in Mohali) that if we play even somewhere near our best, we''re a really good chance of winning the series, but with five or six guys - probably more than that - out of our starting XI that aren''t here at the moment, we''re going along nicely. And we haven''t played our best. With our batting we probably left 30-40 runs out there the other night so, hopefully, that all clicks tomorrow, and if it does we know we''ll be well in the contest again,'''' Ponting added.

At least five players – Brett Lee, Tim Paine, James Hopes, Peter Siddle and Moises Henriques – have returned home with injuries in the past 10 days. Mitchell Johnson is still playing, but with an ankle injury.

Victorian all-rounder Andrew McDonald and New South Wales pacer Burt Cockley will fly out of Sydney today to join the Australian team in Guwahati tomorrow.

The 23-year-old Cockley is rated very highly,  but has played only eight Sheffield Shield matches and four Ford Ranger Cup matches for the Blues.

Pacers Ben Hilfenhaus and Clint McKay, batting all-rounder Adam Voges and uncapped spinner Jon Holland are in the running for the match in Hyderabad.

Australian coach Tim Nielsen said Hilfenhaus would replace Siddle, meaning the last player into the side should be either Voges or McKay.

Nielsen yesterday predicted McKay, who arrived from Australia two days ago on his first national call-up, would come into the team ''''in the next couple of games, if not tomorrow''''.

''''He''s a big kid that''s done well over here and he brings the ball down from a height, so we''ll hopefully see him get a bit of bounce in the conditions,'''' the coach said of the 26-year-old Victorian.

Ponting said he would like Hilfenhaus to also play in the last two matches of the series - in Guwahati on Sunday and in Mumbai next Wednesday.

Hyderabad:  Powerbrokers of Cricket Australia (CA) have denied wanting the volume of fixtures against India to be reduced, though they are intent on shaving matches off a cramped international schedule.

Cricket Australia chairman Jack Clarke, who has been in the subcontinent to watch part of the seven-match series, said the International Cricket Council was attempting to reduce the amount of cricket played.

That included reshuffling the World Cup, Champions Trophy and World Twenty20 tournaments they are contractually bound to until 2015.

Under the ICC''s deal with rights-holder ESPN, there will be an ICC event every year until then.

The ICC is presently drafting its Future Tours Program (FTP) for 2013-2020, but players'' unions have expressed concern that the schedule does not appear likely to get any less cramped, judging by the early drafts.

"It is not fixed yet as to what''s going to happen, that''s been one of the hold-ups in releasing the FTP, the ICC events. So, hopefully less will be more, and I''d be surprised if there''s an ICC event every year, going forward in 2013-2020," Fox Sports quoted Clark, as saying.

It is well known that Australia must maintain strong relations with the all-powerful Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), due to the close link between Cricket Australia''s financial fortunes and those of India.

Since the remarkable 2001 and 2003-04 Test series, the two boards have locked into agreements to drastically increase the number of matches between the countries, with Australia squeezing limited overs tours to India or a neutral venue in 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009 and again in 2010, in addition to four-Test series in 2004 (India), 2007-08 (Australia) and late 2008 (India).

In total, India and Australia have played each other in Tests or one day matches, home or away, in seven of the past nine years, but Clarke denied this was an overload.

Bangalore: Maharashtra may finally have a government on Friday or by Saturday, said Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Praful Patel, adding that he is hopeful about the NCP and the Congress resolving their differences over portfolio allocation “in a day or two”.

Speaking at a function in Bangalore on Wednesday, Patel said he was hopeful about the impasse over the formation of a new government coming to an end after "amicably" settling all issues including portfolios.

"We are hoping for a win-win situation for both (NCP and Congress)," he added.

A day after the term of the outgoing assembly in Maharashtra expired; the Congress and the NCP had held fresh discussions on Wednesday to sort out the vexed issue of portfolio sharing.

Hectic parleys were on between the two parties to reach a consensus over the sharing of portfolios, as each party has staked a claim to some portfolios that the other doesn''t want to part with.

 “An agreement between the Congress and the NCP on the allocation of portfolios is likely to be finalised by evening,” NCP sources said.

The result of elections to the 288 members Maharashtra Assembly was declared on 22nd October, but the new ministry is yet to be sworn in owing to the differences between the two parties on portfolio allocation.

While the Congress wants more portfolios as it has got 20 seats more than the NCP, the latter had announced that it would prefer the 1999 formula for the allocation of ministry.

Congress won 82 seats in the elections, while Sharad Pawar''s NCP bagged 62 as against 69 and 71 respectively in the last election.

Ranchi:  Income Tax sleuths on Thursday made it clear that former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda will be arrested as soon as he is discharged from hospital.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and IT department have also directed the ARA Memorial Weaver''s Hospital in Ranchi, where Koda is recuperating, not to release him without informing them.

Earlier, the IT department sealed Koda''s house in Ranchi.

The ED had also issued a summons to Koda and seven of his aides in connection with alleged hawala transactions.

Koda and his aides have been directed to present themselves before the directorate on November 9, 10,11.

An ED team from Delhi had earlier arrived in Ranchi to obtain documents on the alleged hawala transactions carried out by Koda and his associates. It intends to obtain material evidence and documents seized by the income tax department and source information from the records of the tax searches against Koda and others.

After witnessing nationwide raids for three days to unearth the assets of the former Jharkhand chief minister and his associates, Koda had on Tuesday complained of a pain in his abdomen, giddiness and vomiting. He was admitted to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Apollo Hospital in Ranchi.

New Delhi: Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt will arrive here today for the 10th India-EU summit.

During the visit, India and Sweden are expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on environment.

The MoU will cover climate change, clean technology, clean development mechanisms, environmental protection, environmental governance and air-water quality.

The MoU will lead to the setting up of a joint working group, which will oversee implementation.

Reinfeldt will attend the 10th India-EU Summit on November 6.

Mumbai: The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Thursday reached a broad understanding on the portfolio allocation in Maharashtra.

Union Defence Minister A K Antony, who is in-charge of party affairs in Maharashtra, announced this after a meeting with Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

NCP’s negotiator Praful Patel said that both the parties have cleared the portfolio issues.

The Congress-NCP alliance will stake claim to form the government on Friday and new government will take oath on Saturday, he added.

This should put an end to the uncertainty that has prevailed since the declaration of the results on October 22.

Ahmed Patel from the Congress and Praful Patel from the NCP were engaged in talks in New Delhi until late Wednesday night discussing the deal and waiting for the nod from the Congress high command.

Mumbai: Bollywood actors Aamir Khan, R. Madhavan and Sharman Joshi on Thursday unveiled the first look of their upcoming film ''3 Idiots'' in Mumbai.

Hothpur (Uttar Pradesh): Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel hailing from two obscure places in Uttar Pradesh have made India proud by excelling as the first ever Indian baseball players to play in the professional league of USA.

Both of them have been signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates, a major baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US after winning ''The Million Dollar Arm'' reality show which was launched in November 2007 to find the fastest arm in India and nurture them to play professional baseball in the US.

Family members and neighbours of Rinku Singh in Hothpur village of Bhadohi block in Varanasi district hailed his ''home coming'' with traditional gaiety on Wednesday (November 04).

Accompanied by Dinesh Patel, the local hero Rinku Singh was given a hero''s welcome as he returned home after 18 months.

It was their victory in the ''Million Dollar Arm'' contest that changed their fate overnight.

J B Bernstein, promotor of the ‘The Million Dollar Arm’ show who served as an agent and guardian and made them become professional baseball players in the US, spotted them.

Interestingly, both pitchers, who had no clue as to what the game of baseball was until they were spotted are presently signed to the Pittsburgh Pirates and have completed their first season of Rookie A-Ball with the Bradenton Pirates.

Patel, hailing from Khanpur village also located in Varanasi district of Uttar Pradesh always had a strong inclination towards games and recreational sports.

“In the beginning, baseball game was very tough for us. But now that we are playing it, it is not much of a problem. Now we know the game very well and we would try to play better in the future and make India proud.

In India, training was okay but not many facilities were available. The diet offered to us at Lucknow Hostel was better than what we were offered at our homes. As for America, they have good facilities and better coaches and other trainers," noted Dinesh Patel, ace Indian baseball player.

Both the youngsters, now in their mid-20s, said that success did not come easily to them and it took a lot of hard work and struggle to reach where they are.

Rinku Singh who usually was never second to none in various competitions too seemed very excited about playing baseball in the US.

"We would start planning by the end of this week as we have received our workout sheet. It is off-season now. So we plan to do hard workout, training and other exercises like weightlifting to keep fit and in order to increase our stamina and get ready for the next season," said Rinku Singh, another ace Indian baseball player.

J B Bernstein, coach and manager of both the boys mentioned that he hopes to find more of talents like Patel and Singh from India in the forthcoming talent spotting ''Million Dollar Arms'', an event promoted by him.

Source ANI

Widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket, Tendulkar crossed the 17,000-run mark during his 435th game in front of a packed Rajiv Gandhi Stadium.

Tendulkar has not been in the best of forms recently, and has scored just 90 runs in the previous four games of the series. 

The 36-year-old is the highest run scorer in both Test matches and ODIs, and also the batsman with the most centuries in either form of the game. The first player to score fifty centuries in all international cricket combined, he now has more than eighty international centuries.

New Delhi: Tapping consumers’ preference for online shopping, a company in Chennai has tried to thrust online trading in the country a step further by including groceries and vegetables on the items amongst other.

The ''Vegibazar'', launched by Chennai based Thatwamsi Foods, will ease the lives of the busy working professionals, as the items will also be delivered at their doorstep.

Usha Sridhar, a portal user, said that the service was very convenient and useful.

“I have been the customer of the Vegibazar portal for 2 months and I will give 3C rating what I mean by this is convenience. Because any person can sit at home, workplace or anywhere, in front of a computer or telephone and order vegetables, groceries, fruits and similar commodities delivered at your doorstep,” Usha Sridhar said.

The innovators maintain that the exercise would be cost effective and it will also be 20 percent cheaper.

Venketesan, founder and director of the Vegibazar, said that the purpose of his initiative was to make people live a healthy life.

Srinagar: Sensing the increasing number of militancy related injuries like bomb blasts in Jammu and Kashmir which has left many victims with facial injuries, a seminar was organized here to make the doctors aware of the latest treatments and equipments to treat such cases.
 
Earlier, plastic surgery was the only treatment available for them, which only removed prominent marks on their faces, but left blemishes and spots there. But, now they are all set to be helped with cosmetic surgery.

Local doctors in collaboration with the cosmetic surgeons from outside the valley organized the seminar to showcase the latest equipments and medicines launched in the field of cosmetology.

“In Kashmir, there are many people who are victims of bomb blast or who have suffered injury on their faces due to some accidents and which has left a life long scars on their faces. So, by organizing this conference we will be able to help such people through laser surgery, scar vision. On an average we check around 10 to 15 patients in a day,” said Shaziya, a Dermatologist.

According to the doctors, this surgery will leave the victims with a clean and clear face with no marks on them.

“The main idea behind this conference was to inspire our students and they can concentrate towards this to help the common people. We are doing live demonstration on some patients with their consent and further, pictures of some victims will also be shown. Moreover, the experts who have come here from all over India will also perform a live demonstration in our hospital,” said Qazi Maqsood, Dermotologist and member of the organising committee.

New gadgets and treatments like fractional technology, radio frequency devices and scar revision methods are available for such treatment.

“This will definitely help the victims because if your appearance is good then your self confidence will boost up which will in turn enhance your quality of life. Appearance is very important, especially among the youngsters and people who have suffered due to some injury. So, it is very important for these people to have a proper treatment. Moreover, the confidence will help create awareness among the local doctors and the people,” said Manoj Sharma, Consultant And Cosmetic Surgeon from All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

Sundergarh (Orissa): Five students from Kanyashrama School in Orissa’s Sundergarh district have tested positive for Swine flu.

According to reports, some students from the school complained of normal fever. Later, these students were given medication, but the number of affected students kept on increasing.

Chief District Medical Officer, B K Kindo who treated the affected students, informed that all the students were given the treatment as soon as they were detected carrying the virus.

“Five out of six samples that we had given for testing were found positive. Those who were suspected of the virus are now cured,” Kindo said.

He added that around 14 students of the Kanyashram are still being kept under observation.

The sudden break of the deadly virus has created panic among the local residents, and the authorities fear that many more students in the hostel were suffering from the disease. 

New Delhi: Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has assured the Sikh diaspora liberal visa formalities enabling them to visit and pay obeisance at various Gurdwaras in Pakistan.

Pakistan Government has been granting specific visas to visit only six of the historical Gurdwaras.

On Thursday, Pakistan PM met with a high level delegation of Sikhs leaders led by Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan Minister of Minority Affairs in Islamabad.
 
There are over 170 historical Sikh shrines in Pakistan.

An estimated 100,000 Sikhs from around the world visit Pakistan every year to pay obeisance at their religious places.
 
In a meeting that lasted for nearly one hour, the Sikh leaders also took up other matters related to the Sikh shrines in Pakistan.

The Sikh leaders urged that Sikh architecture should be adopted for the either construction or renovation of the Sikh shrines in Pakistan.

Moreover, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee (SGPC) offered its services for the beautification of the Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak Dev, the first master of the Sikhs.
 
While talking to ANI, Dr. Pritpal Singh, convener American Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee (AGPC), informed that Prime Minister Gilani also assured for the early construction of the building for the proposed Guru Nanak Dev University in Pakistan.

New Delhi: Union Law Minister and accomplished writer, Veerappa Moily, has been declared the winner of the prestigious Moortidevi Award for his book Shri Ramayan Mahaniveshanam, which is considered as the best Ramayana in Kannada after Kuvempu’s.

The Moortidevi Award is considered the most prestigious literary award in the country after the Bharatiya Jnanpith. 

This award is presented every year for a contemplative or creative work, which expresses, underlines and illumines human values rooted in the broad vision of Indian philosophy and cultural heritage.

The objective of the Award is to foster social and individual commitment to higher values of life through the medium of literature in its larger sense.

Moily gets the 21st edition of the Moortidevi Award, while the 20th edition of the award goes to Krishna Bihari Mishra for Kalpataru ke Utsav Leela.

The Bharatiya Jnanpith said in a statement released on Wednesday that Moily and Mishra were chosen unanimously for the honour at a meeting of the award selection board held under the chairmanship of T N Chaturvedi.

The selection committee comprised former Sahitya Akademi secretary K Satchidanandan, Jnanpith awardee Sanskrit scholar Satyavarat Shastri, former Moortidevi Award winning Oriya writer Pratibha Ray, eminent linguist Vrishabha Prasad Jain, Sahu Akhilesh Jain and Ravindra Kalia. 

Patna: Scores of residents in Patna protested against the alleged killing of a man, Sudhir Rai, by the police on Thursday.

According to reports, a team of policemen who were patrolling the banks of river Ganga in connection with a case, found Rai moving in suspicious circumstances. The policemen called him for questioning. But instead, he jumped into the river and died.

However, protestors claim that the police recovered no incriminating material from Rai and threw him into the river when he was unable to answer their questions.

“Nothing incriminating was recovered from him. After that they (policemen) started questioning him, which he had no clue about. Then the policemen threw him in river Ganga. There were six policemen in plain clothes and were armed,” said Anil Kumar, a protestor.

Mumbai: Sarfaraz Khan, a 12-year-old schoolboy who has broken master blaster Sachin Tendulkar''s record by scoring 439 runs in the Harris Shield tournament conducted for schools in Mumbai, has said that he is thankful to god for the achievement.  

Addressing the media on achieving the rare feat in Mumbai, Sarfaraz said: “I am very happy and my friends are also wishing me. I want to continue playing like this. Focusing more on the game, I want to score more such runs. I really want to thank God, who helped me to reach the landmark of scoring 439 runs.”

The 12-year-old had started playing cricket at the age of 4 and is keen to continue playing and score such record making and breaking runs in the future too.

Sarfaraz''s coach, who is incidentally his father, Naushad Khan, said that he was proud of his son''s achievement and wants him to give consistent performance like the two stalwarts Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli who made their presence felt with the helo of the Harris Shield tourney.

“During the schooling period, the way Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli gave consistent performances. He (Sarfaraz) should also continue to play like this and I am sure he will do it and give a good performance in future as well,” Naushad Khan said. 

Sarfaraz, a resident of Kurla, one of the suburbs of Mumbai scored this marathon knock in a match for Rizvi Springfield School against Indian Education Society that was played on Tuesday (November 03).

Chennai: Pilots of national carrier Air India on Thursday threatened to go on strike again if their flying allowances and other salary arrears of the past two months are not been paid to them by November 10.

The pilots threatened to go on strike from November 24 in that case.

The decision was taken at the Indian Commercial Pilots Associations (ICPA) central committee meeting at the Air India house (complex) in southern Chennai on Thursday.

The ICPA, a union formed by 800 erstwhile Indian Airlines pilots, had sent a 14-day strike notice to the Air India management on Monday (November 02).

The irked pilots say that foreign pilots employed by the airline are being paid more than them.

"Our demand is that our salaries... that is flying allowances is a major part of the salaries has not been paid for two months and the foreign pilots who are employed by the company are being paid approximately 30 percent more than what we are being paid and apart from other allowances and perks, they are also being paid on time.," said Captain Sabu, secretary of ICPA.

Trashing reports that the airline is incurring losses due to recession, Sabu said that despite Prime Minister Manmohan Singh''s assurance, the Air India management has not paid any heed to their grievances.

"The entire airline as whole is suffering now and the Honourable Prime Minister had promised in his Independence Day address that he would not allow Air India to die away. But we do not see the management following it up.

“The management is not taking even a single step in the right direction. We have given them a number of suggestions on how to revive this airline and to improve our finances but they do not seem to be interested in that.”

“They are only talking about pay cut from all the employees. No, recession has got absolutely nothing to do with this because we still see that our planes are going full, most of our flights are going full. There are passengers travelling," he added.

New Delhi: The political turmoil within the ruling BJP in Karnataka seems far from ending as the state''s dissident leader turned down Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa''s offer to hold talks to resolve the crisis on Thursday.

The crisis in the state has precipitated, as a section of the cabinet led by State Tourism Minister G. Janardhana Reddy and State Revenue Minister G. Karunakara Reddy questioned the leadership of Yeddyurappa.

In the past week, BJP''s top leadership efforts to diffuse the crisis have proved futile as the dissidents insist on a change in State leadership.

Yeddyurappa, who arrived in the national capital on Wednesday to hold talks with BJP leaders, had expressed inclination to meet the Reddy brothers in order to resolve the crisis, but Janardhan Reddy has vehemently turned down the offer.

“I''m not going to meet chief minister at all. I''m not going to meet him because we came here only to say whatever our feelings and whatever the feelings of the majority of the MLAs. That has been told to Venkaiah Naidu also because I have been only with Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, Ananth Kumar and all, now Venkaiah Naidu also has given me the time and I have explained to him in detail,” Janardhan Reddy said.

“So, I hope in the interest of the party and in the interest of Karnataka, they will take a very good decision within two or three days,” he added.

Meanwhile, hectic meetings continued in the BJP to find a solution to the problem, and party President Rajnath Singh expressed hope of the crisis coming to an end soon.

“As you all know, all the leaders, including Karnataka Chief Minister, were here at my residence. We discussed a lot of issues and some issues are left, and once we discuss them, I''m sure that Karnataka crisis will be fully resolved,” Singh said.