L A T E S T      N E W S

Revelations about Gadkari tip of iceberg: Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: India Against Corruption leader Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said his revelations about alleged corrupt dealings involving BJP chief Nitin Gadkari were "the tip of the iceberg" and a detailed probe would bring out "more truths".

A day after his disclosures targeting Gadkari, the activist-turned-politician told reporters here: "If there is a detailed investigation, more truths will be exposed."

"We have just started the process, it has to be taken forward."

On Wednesday, Kejriwal had accused Bharatiya Janata Party president Gadkari of grabbing land from Maharashtra farmers in collaboration with the Congress government in the state.

The BJP is in the opposition in Maharashtra, where the NCP-Congress coalition rules.

Gadkari had Wednesday denied the charges as baseless, and said he was ready for a probe. — IANS

Satyam founder Raju's assets worth Rs 822 cr attached

HYDERABAD/NEW DELHI: Enforcement Directorate on Thursday issued attachment orders freezing fixed deposits worth Rs 822 crore of B Ramalinga Raju, founder of scam-hit Satyam computers, and his family in connection with its probe in the money laundering case.

The orders issued by the Hyderabad zonal office of the agency specify that these deposits, held in the accounts of Ms Satyam Computers and Services Limited (SCSL), were being attached as it has identified these value of assets as "proceeds of crime" under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The accounts of SCSL, according to the ED attachment order, in Andhra bank, Bank of Baroda, IDBI and ING Vysya have been freezed, even as the agency has filed a complaint in this regard with the Adjudicating authority of the PMLA in Delhi. — PTI

2G: BJP MPs abstain from JPC proceedings

NEW DELHI: Amid demands for calling Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram as witnesses before the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on 2G, BJP members in the panel, on Thursday, once again abstained from its proceedings.

During the last meeting of JPC on October 11, the BJP members had stayed away while accusing JPC Chairman P Chacko of failing to finalise the list of witnesses and include the Prime Minister and Chidambaram in it.

BJP has six members in the JPC.

In July and September, BJP members had stormed out of the meeting accusing Chacko of being “biased” and accused Congress members of using foul language against them.

BJP Leader Yashwant Sinha, who is a member of JPC, had dashed off a letter to Chacko earlier this week saying that the body is of a “special nature” and, hence, a precedent can be set by calling the Prime Minister.

He had maintained the Prime Minister was directly involved in certain decisions on 2G Spectrum allocation and “he and he alone” can answer some of the questions related it.

Sinha had also said the Prime Minister had offered to present himself before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on the same issue and, therefore, he should not have any objection to facing JPC.

BJP has clearly told Chacko that it will not attend the JPC meetings till the list of witnesses is finalised and the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister are summoned.

Chacko had earlier sought directions from the Speaker on the issue of summoning Chidambaram, but the Speaker had informed Chacko that the Committee has to first take a decision on the issue before approaching her and it was, therefore, “premature to intervene at this stage”. — PTI

Naxals blow up CRPF vehicle, 2 killed

Patna: Two CRPF troopers were killed and eight others injured, three of them seriously, when Naxalites triggered an IED blast blowing an anti-landmine vehicle in Bihar's Gaya district today.

The incident occurred at 6:20 AM near Chakarbanda forests in Barha village of the district when the CRPF vehicle was going for an operational duty.

While two personnel inside the vehicle were killed on the spot, eight others were injured, officials said.

Three troopers were seriously injured in the blast. An IAF helicopter from Ranchi has been rushed to evacuate the causalities.

The troopers belong to 159 battalion of the force deployed in the state for anti-Naxal operation tasks.

It is suspected that Maoists used a huge quantity of explosives to detonate the Improvised Explosive Device (IED).

Delhi, Mumbai moving towards prosperity: UN

New Delhi: Mumbai and New Delhi figure among 95 world cities identified by the United Nations as those moving towards prosperity, but the two Indian metropolis are just "half-way" to achieving it with the reasons being poor infrastructure and environment conditions among others.

'State of the World's Cities' report by the UN Habitat analyses the prosperity of the cities on various counts like productivity, quality of life, infrastructure, environment and equity and on all these five categories, the Indian cities are rated just above Dhaka, Kathmandu and Kampala.

The report, released here today, places Mumbai at the 52nd position and New Delhi at 58th among the world cities, though two Chinese cities -- Shanghai and Beijing -- figure much above.

"Two Indian cities come under the Group 4 and they are in the medium level (of prosperity). Prosperity is not just the economic prosperity, but the kind of infrastructure and the quality of life in the city. Both the cities have been penalised for poor environment conditions, especially New Delhi," Edvardo Lopez Moreno, Chief Researcher of the report, told a press conference here.