Lucknow, March 20
A recreation of a Victorian garden party having pink as the dress code at the official residence of the second senior most bureaucrat in the state made Chief Minister Mayawati see red.

After an electronic media telecast, the event having a high glamour quotient late last night, the Chief Minister held a high-level meeting and summarily removed agriculture production commissioner Anis Ansari from his post for reportedly misusing his official residence for commercial purposes. Commissioner social welfare R.K. Mittal has replaced Ansari.

Ansari, belonging to the 1973 batch, is the senior most IAS officer after the chief secretary and was reported to be a strong contender for the latter post. He has now been given a week’s time to furnish an explanation regarding holding of the party, launching a product line at his official residence, in violation of service conduct rules.

Ansari’s suave wife Asma Hussain, who runs an institute for fashion technology, had decided to launch her summer collection on a makeshift ramp put up in the manicured garden of her husband’s 4, Vikramaditya Marg official residence.

Recreating a 19th century Victorian garden tea party, the models - all students of Hussain’s fashion designing school in up market Hazratganj, sashayed down the ramp in various shades of pink.

The wives of most of the senior IAS officers, representing the IAS Ladies Club, were the enthusiastic audience who savoured the high profile fashion event where the city’s elite was present in full strength.

Some of them were even coaxed to catwalk on the ramp to win the Spring Queen title. The title finally went to Shweta Bhanu, wife of Lucknow’s DM Chandra Bhanu.

The event would have perhaps remained a private affair if the media had not been invited to cover it. As the news reached Chief Minister Mayawati, she immediately summoned chief secretary P.K. Mishra, cabinet secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh, principal secretary (appointment) J.S. Deepak and Lucknow commissioner Vijay Shankar Pandey.

According to inside sources, if the Chief Minister is not satisfied with Ansari’s clarification, he may face action that could hamper his smooth transition to the highest post in the state’s bureaucracy when the present chief secretary retires in August.

Mumbai, March 20
Tests on viscera of British schoolgirl Scarlett Keeling, whose death in Goa last month sparked off an uproar, indicates that the teenager was high on a dangerous cocktail of drugs and alcohol at the time of her death.

The Goa police today was given the results of the tests done on the remains of Scarlett. The Mumbai laboratory, which conducted the tests, stated that between 92 and 110 mg of drugs like cocaine and morphine apart from a similar quantity of alcohol were found in the girl. The report tallies with eyewitness accounts which stated that Scarlett had been drinking through out the evening before she tripped on drugs with friends she met at a shack restaurant on Anjuna beach in North Goa.

Doctors and experts in narcotics have been stating in the Goa media that the cocktail drugs and alcohol imbibed by Scarlett was sufficient to cause a seizure of the brain and heart that could cause a victim to go into a coma.

Guwahati, March 20
The Assam government has ordered an inquiry into the alleged irregularities and corruption in the Public Distribution System (PDS) in the state, thanks to the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Official sources said the state government directed the deputy commissioners of all 27 districts in the state to conduct the inquiry into alleged irregularities in the PDS causing deprivation of beneficiaries and submit report within 45 days.

The hornet’s nest was stirred up by an NGO called Krishak Mukti Sangram Samity which taking advantage of the RTI Act conducted a suo moto study on the PDS system in certain districts in the state and exposed glaring irregularities in the system that is meant for providing succor to the poorer section of society.

The findings of the study conducted by the NGO, though widely published in the state media, failed to make the state government to act initially. However, on being prodded by the state’s chief information commissioner and the central government, which threatened to cut down on the allotment of PDS items to the state, the government has finally relented by ordering a probe.

In the meantime, the registrar of Cooperative Societies in Assam has suspended 11 managing committees of cooperative societies in Golaghat district for alleged irregularities in distribution of PDS items. The state’s Bureau of Economic Offences has also started investigation into PDS in Golaghat, Jorhat and Sivasagar districts.

New Delhi, March 20
The government today said it was open to amending the Constitution to acquire more powers to deal with Naxal menace provided a consensus could be built among political parties.

Conceding that the situation in some Naxal-hit states was “very grim” home minister Shivraj Patil said Articles 355 and 356 of the Constitution dealing with internal situation could be amended provided there was a political consensus.

He said there were occasions when the government felt helpless to overcome the situation. “But will it (amendment in the Constitution) be acceptable by the states?” he questioned, referring to specific demand made by B.S. Gnanadesikan that suitable changes could be carried out in Articles 355 and 356 to allow direct intervention by the Centre to administer districts affected by the Naxal problem.

Nearly 700 persons, including security personnel, have been killed in Naxal-related violence in the past two years in the country. The Home minister directly blamed the state governments for not doing enough to deal with the problem at their own end. “We are not shifting our responsibility, but as per the Constitution of India, the onus lies with the states”, he asserted.

The Centre had spent Rs 76,000 crore for implementing various schemes in Naxal-infested states, he said, suggesting that if states wanted to deal with the problem effectively they should expand, modernise and allocate more money for police force and increase funding for improving infrastructure in backward areas.

Meanwhile, the Rajya Sabha was today adjourned for the Budget recess and will now meet on April 15. Chairman Hamid Ansari announced the almost four-week long recess at the end of today’s procedings. Earlier, the House bid farewell to 57 members whose term ends in April.

Patna, March 20
Railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and his wife and former Chief Minister Rabri Devi suffered a major setback today when the Patna High Court admitted for hearing the Bihar government’s appeal challenging their acquittal in a disproportionate assets case, an off-shoot of the multi-crore fodder scam.

The order by the single Judge Bench of Justice R.K. Dutt is also being considered a setback for the CBI, which had decided not to move a superior court against the trial court verdict acquitting them in 2006.

The Judge, who had on February 18 reserved his order on the state government’s appeal on the conclusion of arguments by the prosecution and the defence on the question of admissibility, admitted it for hearing and called for the documents from the special CBI court, which had acquitted the duo.

“It appears that the CBI court has solely relied on the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) order exonerating the respondent (Lalu/Rabri duo),” the Judge said.

During the arguments, senior Supreme Court lawyer and state counsel Surendra Singh claimed that the trial court had virtually ignored the evidences produced by the CBI in support of the disproportionate assets case against the couple.

“The learned counsel for the respondents strongly argued that the 94 defence witnesses had presented incontrovertible evidence (of innocence) during their examination. Unfortunately, the same is not reflected in the judgement of the special CBI court,” the Judge said. — PTI

Guwahati, March 20
The Assam police has suspended a sub-inspector on the charges of harassing two rape victims sexually in the lock-up on the night of March 16.

Senior superintendent of police V.K. Ramisetty has ordered an departmental inquiry into the incident after the two girls had disclosed this before the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Kamrup district that they had been subjected to sexual harassment inside the lock-up of Bharalumukh police station by sub-inspector L. Ali, on the pretext of interrogation.

The two girls had been earlier tormented by three youths of Bharalumkh locality on the night of March 12. Acting on the complaint lodged by the victims, the police later arrested the three accused youth.

Investigating officer of the case, L Ali, then called the two girls to the police station on the night of March 16 for the purpose of further interrogation in connection with the case. However, he allegedly ended up sexually exploiting the girls inside the police station.

On being informed by the victims, the CJM ordered the city SSP to conduct an inquiry into the incident of harassment meted out to the two girls inside the police station.

The departmental investigation so far revealed that Ali was the senior most cop present in the police station on the night of March 16. As per the laid down norms, the girls could have been interrogated in the all-women police station located at Panbazar area in the city.

Hyderabad, March 20
Even as it is mired in controversy with low cost airlines stoutly opposing the ‘exhorbitant’ charges proposed to be levied, the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) at Shamshabad is set to commence operations from 0001 hrs on March 23.

Moments after UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi formally inaugurated on March 14 the RGIA, India’s first greenfield airport project under the private-public partnership model, the Union Civil Aviation Ministry (MocA) put off the operations of the airport scheduled to begin at 0025 hrs on March 16.

The Ministry sought time on issues raised by the low cost carriers to shift their operations from the Hyderabad Airport at Begumpet to the new airport at Shamshabad.

While the Ministry had put off the opposition from the Airport Authority of India (AAI) employees with an ‘assurance’ to keep the Begumpet Airport open, it could not brush aside the issues raised by the low cost private operators on the more than trebling of the airport charges, including on baggage and handling, at Shamshabad Airport.

The Ministry had communicated that no user development charges would be collected from domestic passengers initially unlike Rs 1,000 from each international passenger.

But after seven-day tussle with the low cost airline operators,the Ministry today gave a green signal to the GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL) to start operations at the Shamshabad Airport from midnight Sunday.

GHIAL, a consortium of private investors led by GMR Infrastructure Limited, holds 63 per cent, AAI and Andhra Pradesh Government 13 per cent each and Malaysian Airport 11 per cent, had developed the Rs 2478-crore RGIA which is designed to handle 12 million passengers per annum in the first phase of its operations. — UNI

New Delhi, March 20
With the arrest of two terrorists, Jaswant Singh alias Kala and Surender Singh alias Fauzi, the Special Cell of the Delhi police has once again managed to bust a module of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI). The duo was arrested from Sutlej Bridge on Moga road in Jalandhar district yesterday evening. A .30 Star make (Pakistan make) pistol and one .22 Star make pistol with 11 live cartridges have been recovered from the possession of these militants. According to Karnal Singh, joint commissioner of police, Special Cell, “the nefarious designs of the BKI to revive militancy in Punjab had been thwarted with the arrest of these terrorists”.

It must be recalled that the BKI had planned to target some religious leaders in Punjab and the Delhi police had apprehended four terrorists in this connection in December 2007.

A team of Special Cell officers under the supervision of ACP Ravi Shankar has been working on the lead which came through the interrogation of those terrorists resulting in the arrest of Jaswant Singh (31) and Surender Singh (22).

Jaswant Singh is a close associate of Jagtar Singh Hawara. He had been earlier arrested by the Punjab police in July, 2005, in a case under the Arms Act and Exploseive Substance Act.

While he was in jail he came in contact with Daya Singh Lahoria, chief of Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), Tahal Singh and Baljeet Singh Pahu, a notorious smuggler of arms, drugs and currency.

When Baljeet Singh Pahu was released, he arranged for the bail of Jaswant Singh through the money he received from his mentors based in foreign countries. When he came out of the jail Jaswant Singh contacted Baljeet Pahu for further terrorist activities but before they could target anyone, Baljeet was arrested by Special Cell team on December 31, 2007.

Surender Singh, alias Fauzi, was motivated by Jaswant Singh to join them in their war against the state.

According to Karnal Singh, on interrogation the arrested terrorists revealed that their chief Wadhwa Singh was presently living in Pakistan and was managing the whole operation through his son-in-law Satnam Singh based in Germany and some other associates based in the UK and USA.

Madurai, March 20
The parents of a BSF jawan from here, who reportedly committed suicide in Tripura while on duty, have alleged foul play in his death.

They first declined to accept his body but relented after being persuaded by the local police. While accepting the body, the parents alleged that their son was tortured by his superior officer and demanded a CBI inquiry into the matter.

The body of 24-year-old Sheikh Abdullah was sent to Madurai yesterday from the BSF camp site at Tripura.

The jawan's father Mohammed Sha from Devi Nagar near here said that his son had complained about "harassment" and "torture" by his superior when he came here on leave two months back. "However, I, along with my other son, persuaded him to rejoin duty," he said.

Sha said Abdullah had telephoned him on March 16 around 6.30 p.m to complain that he was unable to bear the torture of his superior and that he felt like committing suicide. After that, the family received two messages in quick succession, stating that "Your son is missing" and "Your son has shot himself dead." The body reportedly contained bullet injuries in the neck and forehead.

Their relative Rajamohammed, who is a lawyer, demanded that another post mortem be done on the body.

Sha said the FIR’s copy and magisterial inquiry report had not been submitted and demanded a CBI probe into the matter. — PTI

New Delhi, March 20
Former National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra today refused to react to senior BJP leader L. K. Advani’s assertion that he differed with then Prime Minister A. B. Vajpayee over Mishra holding dual posts in the NDA Government.

“I don’t want to react at all. It will die a natural death,” he said when asked to react to Advani’s assertion in his memoir ‘My Country My Life’.

Advani said he and many senior ministers in the NDA government felt the posts held by Mishra as PM’s Principal Secretary and National Security Advisor should be bifurcated but it was shot down by Vajpayee.

The Kargil Review Committee, set up by the NDA government, had recommended that there must be a full time NSA.

“Many senior ministers in the government and I felt that there was much merit in this suggestion,” Advani, then Deputy PM, wrote in his 986-page book. — PTI

New Delhi, March 20
Describing it as “Bharatiya Jinnah Party”, the Congress today wondered why the BJP had suddenly started finding virtues in Pakistan founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah and attributing all his actions and deeds to the Congress.

Reacting to certain remarks made by former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh at a function here yesterday to release BJP leader L K Advani’s book ‘My Country My Life,’ AICC Spokesman Abishek Manu Singhvi said it was strange that a book release function had been converted into a “political bashing session.” “If you want to berate the Congress, you must get facts and history correct,” he said, while alleging that the BJP, Mr Singh and Mr Advani wanted to re-write history.

Dr Singhvi questioned the reported assertion of Mr Singh that all blame for Jinnah’s action, inaction and deed were attributable to the Congress.

“What has happened to the Prime Minister in waiting (Mr Advani) and his party which have started finding virtues in Jinnah all of a sudden and none in the Congress Party ?” he asked.

In this context, he pointed out that “after a spirited defence of Jinnah’s secularism by Mr Advani, we now have Jaswant Singh’s spirited attribution of all Jinnah deeds to the Congress Party,” he said describing the BJP as the “Bharatiya Jinnah Party.” “Why this great urge of the BJP to defend Jinnah to give a clear chit to the founder of Pakistan, he asked.

Dr Singhvi said Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru were fighting to maintain unity and integrity of the country after Jinnah launched the Muslim League.

Complaining that Mr Singh and Mr Advani deliberately and consciously wanted to ignore the contribution of the Congress to Indian freedom struggle, he asked where were the Sangh Parivar and the Hindu Mahasabha and their forefathers during 1900-1950. “What is there footprint in the Indian Freedom Movement?,’’ he asked.

Dr Singhvi said, “the pro-Jinnah forces whom we see today are none other than those anti-Gandhi groups who assassinated the Father of the Nation.” In this context, he said the seeds of partition were sown by none other than the “forefathers of the Sangh Parivar”.

“For them Indian nationalism is not important. What is important for them is fighting a section of the citizens,” Dr Singhvi said, in a clear dig at the BJP. — UNI

Allahabad, March 20
Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha, whose decision as Allahabad High Court judge setting aside the election of Indira Gandhi had set off a chain of events leading to imposition of the Emergency in 1975, died here today after prolonged illness.

Sinha, 88, was survived by wife and three sons, family sources said.

In a landmark judgement on February 12, 1975, Justice Sinha declared the election of Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, to the Lok Sabha as void and Emergency was imposed in the country on June 27 the same year.

Born in Agra in 1920, Justice Sinha obtained his LLB degree from Agra University and started his career as a lawyer in Bareilly in 1943.

He was elected to Uttar Pradesh Higher Judicial Service in 1956. In 1970, he was elevated to the Allahabad High Court.

Justice Sinha retired as a high court judge in 1982. He was also vice-president of All-India Bharati Vikas Parishad of which Justice H.R. Khanna of the Supreme Court was the President.

The mortal remains of Justice Sinha will be cremated here tomorrow. — PTI

New Delhi, March 20
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today assured the nation that the government was preparing a national action plan to address all issues related to imminent climate change, including remedial measures for mitigating the impact on food grains production. The action plan will be ready by June this year.

Responding to a question raised by noted scientist M.S. Swaminathan in the Rajya Sabha, the Prime Minister said “The national action plan on climate change is being formulated to work out an adaptive, technical or any other mechanism to study the impact of climate change”. He said all issues related to climate change would be taken into account and addressed, adding that problems related to the issue were very significant for India and just two days back he had also convened a meeting of concerned ministers in this regard.

Nominated member Swaminathan had raised the question about the impact of global warming on India’s food security and national employment. He also questioned whether the government was drawing contingency plans to deal with impact of environment change on crops like potato and wheat.

In this context, the Department of Agriculture and the Planning Commission have also been asked to prepare a comprehensive plan to deal with the impact of climate change on foodgrains production. The ICAR is also working on a network project on impact, adaptation and vulnerability of agriculture in India to climate change.

Meanwhile, the government also clarified that India’s forest and tree cover was not on decline. On the contrary, India’s green cover had increased during the past few years, minister of state for environment and forest Regupathy told Rajya Sabha.

The forest and tree cover as percentage of the total land mass in the country had increased to 23.39 per cent as compared to 14.24 per cent in 1951. In 2005, the country had 3,87,216 sq km of dense forest area that corresponded to 11.78 per cent of the total landmass. Another 2,89,872 sq km - 8.82 per cent - had open forest and scrubs were spread on 38,475 sq km.

The National Forest Policy envisages bringing 33 per cent of the country’s land area under forest or tree cover. The XI Plan (2007-2012) has set the target to achieve 30 per cent forest or tree cover by 2012.

Kolkata, March 20
The authorities of the Indian Museum here have denied reports that certain artefacts have been missing from the museum and said an inventory was currently being prepared by it. “The inventory and listing of items have been going on for quite some time under the guidance of eminent historians and scholars following the direction of the union culture ministry and the Museum governing Board,” its acting director, C. R Ponda told PTI.

The 196-year-old museum have, in its collection, about 1 lakh exhibits which is being showcased in 22 galleries. He denied a media report that the inventory was taken up as some artefacts, including those of the Indus Valley civilisation and gold coins, were missing.

"There is not an iota of truth in the report and an inventory is a regular process in a museum," he said.

Except for the seventh century Buddha bust which went missing from the archaeological gallery, he said, no other artefact was missing. Ponda, who is also Curator-Secretary of the Victoria Memorial, said no artefact had been reported missing after he was asked to look after the affairs of the museum.— PTI

Hyderabad, March 20
Assault on hospital staff has been made a non-bailable offence in Andhra Pradesh, attracting imprisonment up to three years.

A Bill providing for stringent punitive measures for attacking doctors, nurses and other staff on duty has been passed by the state Legislative Assembly. As per the new legislation, the loss caused to the hospital property will be recovered from the assailants under the Revenue Recovery Act.

The AP Medical Service Persons/Medical Institutions (Prevention of violence and Damage to Properties) Ordinance, 2007, will be applicable to government and private hospitals, nursing homes and maternity clinics and cover doctors, nurses, paramedical staff, medical and nursing staff.

The new law, billed as the first such experiment in the country, will treat any case of assault or intimidation directed against the hospital staff as a cognisable and non-bailable offence. It comes against the backdrop of a series of unsavoury incidents of attacks on city hospitals by the Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen workers, prompting the medicos to launch a prolonged agitation.

One of the main demands of the striking doctors was enactment of a law that treats assault on hospital staff as non-bailable offence. The Bill also provides for setting up a grievance mechanism that enables patients or their relatives to lodge complaint against doctors in case of medical negligence, carelessness or poor service.

Kolkata,March 20
A former employee of a health centre in Howrah district here continues in his "job" even after 14 years of retirement, and that too without remuneration, due to his passion for work.

Rabindranath Bhadra, a former employee of the Jagatballavpur Block Health Centre, still gets ready and sets off to work by 6 a.m daily as was his routine before his retirement in 1995.

"He feels ill if he stops working. Once, we had stopped him from following his gruelling routine. But he started feeling depressed and started developing cardiac problems and so we have allowed him to work so he stays fit and happy," said his wife, Suniti.

The health centre authorities and staff say that Bhadra is too good a worker to miss out and has become indispensable for the smooth functioning of the institution.

"We have become dependent on him after his retirement. If he doesn't come for a day, we face a lot of problems. He is indispensable," medical officer of Jagatballavpur Block Health Centre Rupanjali Biswas said.

Asked whether he wanted to be get paid for his services to the government, Bhadra said "I get my pension and that is enough for me and so why should I ask for more?" He joined 35 years ago as a Group D employee at the Health Centre at a monthly salary of Rs 90.

Bhadra was transferred to other health centres in the district during his service and after his retirement, he returned to the place where he began his work life.He now gets a monthly pension of Rs 2700. — PTI

New Delhi, March 20
India has sought permission from Pakistan for an inspection visit to Neelam valley in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in the wake of reports that a dam is being constructed there by a Chinese consortium.

Giving this information in the Rajya sabha in a written reply, External Affairs Minister Pranab Kukherjee said Pakistan is yet to arrange the visit.

He said the proposed Neelam-Jhelum project in Muzaffarabad district of PoK enviages carrying water up to helum river by constructing a dam on Neelam river.

The government is aware of reports that the construction contract of the project has been aarded to a Chinese consortium, Mukherjee said.

India keeps “a constant watch on developments having a bearing on India’s security and take necessary measures to safeguard it,” he said. —PTI

Kolkata, March 20
CPM general secretary Prakash Karat today met the veteran Jyoti Basu at Salt Lake Indira Bhavan and discussed the country’s political situation vis-à-vis the party’s strategy to be adopted in the coming Lok Sabha elections towards the formation of a non-BJP and non-Congress(I) third front government at the Centre.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and the party’s state secretary Biman Bose were also present.

After the meeting, Karat, however, told mediapersons that they had only discussed about the agenda of their forthcoming party congress in April at Coimbatore. Because of his health, Basu would not attend the Coimbatore party congress.

He also expressed his willingness to quit the politburo.

Party sources said Basu was once again requested by both Karat and Bose to remain in the politburo and the central committee in advisory capacity. They felt Basu’s guidance was of much help to the party in the crisis.

In the meeting, Karat also briefed Basu about their recent talks with the UPA on the nuclear deal issue vis-à-vis the possibilities of the earlier elections in the Lok Sabha. Neither Karat nor Basu wanted the Manmohan Singh government to fall now and the Lok Sabha elections be held earlier. But both the leaders were against India signing the deal by sacrificing their national interests.

Jamshedpur, March 20
Chairman of Jamshedpur Lok Adalat R. P Ravi was today shot at and critically injured by unidentified assailants on busy Hume Pipe Road here.

Ravi was rushed to Tata Main Hospital, where his condition was stated to be critical, deputy superintendent of police Dinesh Oraon said.

The retired district judge was on his way to the office near his residence on foot when three motorcycle- borne assailants tried to snatch a polythene bag he was carrying with him. When Ravi resisted their move, the assailants pumped in two bullets.Ravi, an Additional District Judge here, had retired as district Judge of Jamtara in Jharkhand in 2006.

During his tenure as ADJ, Ravi had sentenced gangster, Akhilesh Singh, an accused in the gunning down of Sakchi jailor in 2002. The accused is the son of Jharkhand Police Association general secretary Chandragupt Singh.

Meanwhile, senior police officials, including police superintendent Navin Kumar Singh rushed to Tata Main Hospital. A massive hunt was launched to track the culprits and all exit points were sealed, the police said.

The Jamshedpur Bar Association has strongly condemned the incident and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits, Sudhir Kumar Pappu, spokesman of the association, told newsmen.— PTI

BRIEFLY

Bharat Shah’s offices raided
MUMBAI: Around Rs 16 crore, of concealed income, has been found from searches on the seven premises of diamond merchant and film producer Bharat Shah here, Income Tax authorities said on Thursday. “Searches on his seven premises which were conducted recently have revealed concealed income to the tune of around Rs 16 crore,” they said. Shah’s offices at Opera house and his apartment at Napean Sea road were among the premises searched. — PTI

PLA condemns killings
IMPHAL: The banned Revolutionary People's Front (RPF) on Thursday said it had nothing to do with the killing of 15 migrant labourers in Manipur. In a statement the RPF, the PLA’s political wing, condemned the systematic killing of migrant workers in the state saying that its fight “was against the Government of India and not Indians”. — PTI

Barnala undergoes surgery
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Governor S.S. Barnala, on Thursday, successfully underwent a coronary artery bypass surgery at the Apollo Hospitals here. A bulletin here said a team of doctors headed by Dr M.R. Girinath performed the surgery. Earlier in the day, Barnala underwent an angiogram, which showed two critical blocks in the left system of the coronary arteries. “The Governor is recovering well,” the bulletin said. — UNI

Telugu actor Sobhan dead
CHENNAI: Well-known Telugu actor Sobhan Babu, who reigned supreme in the Telugu film industry for decades between 1965 and 1979, along with the two stalwarts late N.T. Rama Rao and A. Nageswara Rao, died of cardiac arrest at the Apollo Hospital here on Thursday. The 71-year-old handsome yesteryear hero of 236 films was rushed to the hospital as he collapsed and started bleeding through his nose while practising yoga. Doctors who attended on him at the hospital declared him dead.— UNI