Chennai/Mumbai: CEO of Chennai Super Kings Gurunath Meiyappan has been asked to appear on Friday in Mumbai before the Crime Branch police there in connection with the IPL betting scandal, the police said on Thursday.

Two Mumbai Crime Branch officials, who arrived in Chennai on Thursday morning to quiz Meyiyappan with whom arrested Bollywood actor Vindoo Randhawa was allegedly in touch, were also believed to have served summons to Meiyappan through his secretary at his Boat Club residence in this connection, they said.

Meiyappan, son-in-law of BCCI president N. Srinivasan, has been asked to appear before the Mumbai crime branch between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., Joint Commissioner Crime Branch Himanshu Roy said in Mumbai.

Mystery shrouded the whereabouts of Meiyappan as some reports said he had left for Kolkata, while some said he had stayed back in New Delhi after witnessing the first play-off between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians on Tuesday.

Some reports indicated he was already in Mumbai.

According to the police, the call records of Randhawa, son of late wrestler-actor Dara Singh, who was arrested in the IPL betting case on Tuesday, indicated he had made several calls to Chennai and some to Meiyappan.

“Vindoo made several calls to Meiyappan of the Chennai IPL. We may call the person in question to ascertain the reasons why these frequent calls were made,” an officer involved in the probe had said.

The actor was arrested for his alleged association with bookies. Randhawa, winner of reality TV show Bigg Boss season 3, was allegedly in touch with some bookies held in the scandal.

He also reportedly admitted to having facilitated the escape of two bookies Pawan Jaipur and Sanjay Jaipur to Dubai from Mumbai on May 17,who had gone underground to evade arrest after Mumbai police busted the international betting racket with arrest of key bookie Ramesh Vyas and 3 others on May 14.

The IPL found itself embroiled in a controversy after speedster S. Sreesanth and two Rajasthan Royals team mates were arrested last week by police, which claimed they received upto Rs 60 lakh from bookies for bowling one manipulated over.

A special cell of the Delhi police arrested Sreesanth and his teammates — Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan — in Mumbai on Thursday last for indulging in spot-fixing in at least three IPL matches as per arrangements with bookies, who have underworld connections abroad. — PTI

LONDON: The British government’s emergency committee met on Thursday after two attackers butchered a British soldier in a daylight attack in London that raised fears terrorism had returned to the capital.

Prime Minister David Cameron says there are strong indications it was an act of terrorism, and his top advisers will be examining the potential security implications of the attack, which took place near a military barracks in the Woolwich area of the city.

Police on Thursday confirmed the dead man was a serving soldier and said his identity will not be released yet at his family’s request. They said a post-mortem examination will be conducted later Thursday.

One of the attackers went on video to explain the crime shouting political statements, gesturing with bloodied hands and waving a meat cleaver. Police shot and wounded the unidentified assailants and took them into custody.

Security has been tightened at military barracks and authorities say they are updating their guidance for military personnel.

Police in the county of Lincolnshire in eastern England said a property was being searched in connection to the attack in Woolwich. Police said a search warrant had been obtained but would not provide details about the search. Police was also scouring the attack site for further clues.

London Mayor Boris Johnson urged the people of the city to remain calm. Leaving the meeting of the emergency committee, Johnson appeared to indicate the attack was being seen as a one-off incident.

“Everything I am hearing leads me to think that Londoners can go about their business in the normal way and we are going to bring the killers to justice,” he said.

Calling it “an appalling murder,” Cameron earlier said there were “strong indications” it was an act of terrorism, and two other officials said there were signs the attack was motivated by radical Islam.

The incident unfolded on Wednesday afternoon when officers responded to reports of an assault just a few blocks from the Royal Artillery Barracks in the neighborhood of Woolwich.

Images from the scene showed a blue car that appeared to have been used in the attack, its hood crushed and rammed into a signpost on a sidewalk that was smeared with blood. A number of weapons including butchers’ knives, a machete and a meat cleaver were strewn on the street.

While there were moments of chaos, one local primary school went into lockdown when a teacher saw the victim’s body the scene was striking in its normalcy. Pedestrians milled about with grocery bags and shopping carts as a body lay motionless in the street and the attackers remained on the scene, wielding long knives.

Passers-by filmed what appeared to be one of the attackers, his hands covered in blood, making political statements about “an eye for an eye” as a body lay behind him.

Footage obtained by ITV news and The Sun newspaper showed a man in a dark jacket and knit cap walking toward a camera, clutching a meat cleaver and a knife. Speaking in English with a British accent, he apologised that women passers-by “have had to witness this” barbarity, saying that “in our land our women have to see the same.”

“We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you,” the man declared. “We must fight them as they fight us.” The camera then panned away to show a body lying on the ground.

The Associated Press examined the footage to verify its authenticity, cross-referencing images from the scene, aerial shots, the location of a car behind the alleged attacker and the appearance of a body and a car in the background. There was no immediate way for the AP to verify who the cameraman was.

Other images showed the second suspect clutching a long knife as he engaged in conversation with a woman who British media said tried to intervene to prevent further bloodshed.

The Daily Telegraph identified the woman as Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, 48, and said she confronted the attackers, telling them: “It is only you versus many people. You are going to lose.”

Saying she wanted to stop the suspect from attacking anyone else, she asked him if he “did it” and what he wanted.

“He said: ‘I killed him because he killed Muslims and I am fed up with people killing Muslims in Afghanistan. They have nothing to do there,’” she told the newspaper.

Britain has been at the heart of several terror attacks or plots in recent years, the most deadly being the 2005 rush-hour suicide bombings when 52 commuters were killed. More recently, Parviz Khan was convicted in 2008 of plotting to kidnap and behead a British Muslim soldier in Birmingham.

Some extremists have lashed out at Britain’s involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq. Recently, groups have also criticized Britain’s assistance in the French-led mission to Mali to root out Islamic extremists in the north. — AP

Phaneesh Murthy to be sued for sexually
harassing iGate employee

NEW DELHI: Sacked iGate Corp Chief Executive Phaneesh Murthy will be sued for sexually harassing the firm's investor relations head and allegedly making her pregnant, the law firm representing the victim said today.

The California-based law firm, Aiman-Smith & Marcy, said that iGate's head of investor relations Araceli Roiz was pregnant with Murthy's child.

Murthy told the iGate board of his relationship with Roiz only after she informed him that she will be taking legal action against him, Roiz's legal firm Aiman-Smith & Marcy said in a statement.

iGate had earlier this week terminated Murthy's contract for not reporting a relationship with Roiz. Murthy, one of the industry's best-known executives, was forced to quit India's second-biggest software services exporter Infosys in 2002, following a sexual harassment lawsuit, which was settled out of court.

The law firm, which had represented Reka Maximovitch and Jennifer Griffith in the previous sex harassment lawsuits against Murthy, said Roiz remains an employee of iGate and is on medical leave at present.

"When he discovered this (that Roiz was pregnant), Murthy pressured Ms Roiz to have an abortion. When she refused, he told her to leave the company, quietly, to protect his position as CEO," it said in the statement.

Murthy, who had after his sacking stated that he was in relationship with Roiz for "few months" and the sexual harassment case against him was an extortion attempt, could not be immediately reached for comments.

The law firm claimed Murthy began pursuing Roiz shortly after she joined iGate in May 2010 and insinuated himself into her personal life using the pretext of business necessity.

"On behalf of Roiz, we are contemplating next steps, which will certainly include court action against Murthy and iGate," it said adding the Fremont, California-based company was liable for the conduct of its CEO.

While sacking Murthy, iGate had said that an outside probe, which is continuing, had not found any violation of the company's harassment policy.

"We do not believe a full, impartial, investigation can possibly result in this conclusion, but we note that, according to iGate, its investigation is continuing. We hope that iGate will take appropriate responsibility in this matter and that it can be concluded on that basis," the law firm said.

On Murthy's claims that Roiz was engaging in "extortion" by bringing this case against him, the law firm said "Murthy's comments are defamatory and a despicable attempt to 'blame the victim', who only wants to somehow continue her career and support her child." — PTI

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Thursday sought to assuage the stock market, after it declined by over 350 points, by asserting that there was no need for any “nervousness” and the participants should read the situation correctly rather than be influenced by external developments.

”...there is no need for any kind of nervousness. I am looking forward to June and the second quarter with much greater confidence. I think the Indian market should read the situation correctly rather than being influenced by something which is happening elsewhere”, he said.

The minister was reacting to sudden crash in Indian stock markets in response to a statement by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke in which he had talked about scaling back of stimulus with improvement in economic conditions. The BSE sensex slipped by 365 points to 19,697.44 points during the intra-day trade. The markets later recovered.

“We have been looking at what is happening in the market. We think that Bernanke’s statement has been misunderstood or misinterpreted.” he said.

“If we read the statement carefully, he has clearly indicated that he will continue with quantitative easing in the foreseeable future at about USD 85 billion a month or so”, Chidambaram added.

The minister further said that quantitative easing is continuing in Japan and Europe and there have been no change whatsoever and the flows into India during May have been extremely copious. — PTI

Mayawati’s Dalit memorials to host marriages, cultural events

Lucknow: BSP supremo Mayawati’s dream projects, including memorials and parks in the name of Dalit icons in the state capital, would now witness marriages and cultural events with the Akhilesh government deciding to use the space for public purposes.

“Yes...the decision has been taken in this regard. It was in the Samajwadi Party’s election manifesto to utilise areas of these memorials and parks for public purposes. By doing so we have fulfilled yet another promise,” In-charge Minister of Lucknow, Shiv Pratap Yadav, told PTI.

For utilising memorials and parks constructed by the previous regime, the suggestions given by the government to the management, security and maintenance committee of these parks have been adopted.

As per the plan, guest houses constructed at Ramabai Ambedkar ground and adjoining area will be handed over to the estate department besides its administrative building will be used as the Committee’s office.

The administrative offices of other places could now be given to government, semi-government departments, corporations and different bodies on rent.

The dormitories constructed at memorials, parks and rally grounds will be given on rent to government and semi-government departments and the adjoining vacant land could be used for social functions, including marriages and cultural events etc.

Similarly, type four dwellings constructed at Buddha Vihar Shanti Upvan will be handed over to the estate department and canteen at eco-garden be given on rent to a private operator.

The administrative building at Bhimrao Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Sthal, which was earlier allotted to National Investigative Agency (NIA), would be allotted to the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), Udyog Bandhu or any other department on rent.

Besides, outer administrative building of the Sthal would be given on rent to police or the home department.

Similarly, Kanshiram green (eco) garden would also be rented out by Estate department.

After leaving space for the annual Lucknow Mahotsava, the remaining space at Ramabai Ambedkar ground would be given on rent for organising expo-marts and other fairs.

The parking place would be given to the state Transport Corporation for inter-state bus terminal.

A committee headed by Lucknow District Magistrate Anurag Yadav was earlier constituted to give suggestions for the utilisation of vacant buildings and land in memorials and parks.

BSP has termed the decision as “unfortunate” and said it would set a wrong precedent

The decision is an insult to Dalit icons on whose name the memorials have been constructed. It will set a wrong tradition and in the future someone could do the same with projects of SP”, BSP MP Brijesh Pathak said. — PTI

NEW DELHI: Shashi Kant Sharma was on Thursday sworn in as CAG by President Pranab Mukherjee in the Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi.

The 61-year old 1976 Bihar cadre IAS officer replaced Vinod Rai, who superannuated on Wednesday after a five-and-a-half year eventful tenure as the head of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).

"Shashi Kant Sharma will have a tenure up to September 24, 2017," an official statement said. He was holding the post of Defence Secretary prior to this new assignment. Sharma's appointment comes at a time when the CAG has come under sharp attack from the government and ruling party for its reports on assessment of Rs 1.76 lakh crore loss in allocation of 2G spectrum. 
Under Rai's tenure, the CAG was accused of going beyond its auditing ambit and indulging in analysing policy decisions.

Rai, however, had hit back saying the government just wanted the CAG to be an accountant.

The new CAG will have to handle the audit report on AgustaWestland chopper deal, among other reports. He was closely associated with the deal from its early days till its completion in 2010.

CAG reports on 2G spectrum and coal block allocations during Rai's tenure had triggered a number of controversies and raised the hackles of the government, besides bringing in the concept of presumptive loss in audit.

Like Vinod Rai, Sharma too has served as Secretary in the Department of Financial Services. Sharma, who holds a Masters degree in Political Science from the University of York, has spent over 10 years in the Defence Ministry in various capacities. — PTI