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Hegde does a U-turn
‘Maoist’ slain in AP was a scribe
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PF Scam
Need to align policies with aviation industry’s needs: PM
Mumbai in need of another airport: Patel
Dhoni engaged to school sweetheart
Nadia case: Finally,
Pacheco surrenders
Nitish copter takes off with door open
Sitar legend Ravi Shankar turns 90
Probe ordered into submarines’ collision at Naval jetty
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Hegde does a U-turn
Hegde today said he was withdrawing his resignation in view of a request made to him by BJP leader and former Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani. BJP president Nitin Gadkari, who is in the city, along with Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa, met Hegde at his residence in Bangalore today and conveyed Advani’s request to him. Advani issued a statement in Delhi appealing to Hegde to withdraw his resignation and also wrote a letter to the latter. Hegde said he would meet the Governor tomorrow and withdraw his resignation. On Friday, BJP state president Eeswarappa and Karnataka ministers VS Acharya and Suresh Kumar met the Lokayukta and urged him to withdraw his resignation. Union Home Minister P Chidambaram had also telephoned the Lokayukta and requested him to continue in his post. But, Hegde had refused to budge. Now, his decision to heed to the request of L K Advani has come as a snub for the Opposition — the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular). Hegde had put in his papers on June 23 and the resignation was to come into effect from August 31. The latest decision of the Lokayukta has sent the alarm bell ringing among the mining mafia. Earlier, after his meeting with Santosh Hegde, Gadkari said the party had given a “free hand” to Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa to deal with the mining mafia. Yeddyurappa’s earlier attempt to rein in the powerful Reddy brothers of Bellary —Karunakara and Janardhana, both ministers in his Cabinet — had nearly led to the collapse of the government headed by him. Yeddyurappa said the government would extend all cooperation to Hegde. “We will not let him fight alone”, he said.
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‘Maoist’ slain in AP was a scribe
Hyderabad, July 3 The man has been identified as Hemchandar Pandey, a native of Dewaltal village in Uttarakhand. Pandey (32) was a freelance journalist based in Delhi, working for Hindi dailies “Nai Duniya” and “Rashtriya Sahara”. The police had yesterday maintained that he was an unidentified Maoist. According to police, Azad, a central committee member of CPI (Maoist), and another unidentified Naxalite were killed in an encounter in Jogapur forest area of Adilabad district on Andhra Pradesh-Maharashtra border yesterday. However, there were not many takers for the police story. Several civil rights groups dubbed it as a fake encounter and demanded an independent probe. Though the police claimed that a fierce exchange of fire took place between a group of over 25 Maoists and a police party for over four hours, the locals residing in nearby hamlets said they had not heard any sound of firing. Meanwhile, the body of Azad was brought here for last rites. It will be handed to the relatives of the slain Maoist leader.
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PF Scam
New Delhi, July 3 The investigating agency said it filed the chargesheet in a special CBI court at Ghaziabad. The accused judges are RP Yadav, RN Mishra, AK Singh (all later became HC judges and are now retired), RP Mishra, RS Chaube and Arun Kumar. They had allegedly entered into a conspiracy with other accused when they were serving in Ghaziabad during 2001-08, it said. The investigation was taken up by the CBI on October 1, 2008, following a Supreme Court order. The case related to fraudulent general provident fund (GPF) withdrawal made in the name of class IV employees of the Ghaziabad court during 2001-2008. The agency said its probe had established that 781 treasury cheques amounting to Rs 7.92 crore were issued in the names of class IV employees of District Court, Ghaziabad, pertaining to GPF withdrawal. Out of 781 instances, 482 treasury cheques amounting to Rs 6.5 crore were found to have been drawn fraudulently. Ashutosh Asthana, who later became a witness but died under mysterious circumstances, was accused of abusing his official position as a clerk and entering into a criminal conspiracy with the judges and 71 others.
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Need to align policies with aviation industry’s needs: PM
New Delhi, July 3 The Prime Minister, along with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, inaugurated the Indira Gandhi International Airport’s Terminal 3, the eighth largest terminal in the world, and dedicated it to the people of the country. India, the Prime Minister said, occupied an important geographical position in the global air route structure and the “hub traffic” out of Delhi and Mumbai would grow in the coming years. Analysts have predicted that domestic traffic in India could increase up to 160 to 180 million passengers and international in excess of 50 million by 2020. It is estimated that India’s aviation sector has the potential to absorb investment up to $120 billion by 2020. Calling for creating a safe, secure, efficient and environment friendly system conducive to healthy growth of the civil aviation sector, he said the government was working to achieve these goals. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation was being strengthened and the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority had been set up as a regulator for the airport sector for monitoring issues like airport charges and service standards. The future of T1, T 2 & T 3
All international carriers operating from Delhi would shift operations to Terminal 3 on July 14. The first flight in will be an Air India direct New York-Delhi flight, while the first departure will be again a national carrier run Delhi-Dubai flight. The big question: What happens to T2 after July 14? The Delhi International Airport Limited officials say it will remain operational with all infrastructure intact till the Commonwealth Games. If some airline wants to use its facilities during the period it could. Thereafter, it may be used for general aviation. Later, the area will be used for building another terminal, T4.
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Mumbai in need of another airport: Patel
New Delhi, July 3 “Mumbai needs to have a new airport because the current airport is nearing the point of saturation,” Patel said in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. “It is our financial capital and needs all required infrastructure,” the Civil Aviation Minister, who recently levelled the charge of obstructionism against Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, said. Patel criticised the Environment Ministry for delaying clearances to the Navi Mumbai project.
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Dhoni engaged to school sweetheart Notably, the engagement for Dhoni comes exactly four days ahead of his 29th birthday. And the marriage is likely to take place after India’s home series against Australia in October. Since morning, the rumors of the engagement kept the mediapersons on their toes here. By the evening, it was rumoured that Dhoni had got engaged at a resort near Dehradun. According to reports, members of both the families along with close friends travelled in three buses to the resort. A graduate in hotel management, Sakshi and Dhoni had been school friends at DAV, Shamily, Ranchi. Both the families had been residing in Jharkhand, from where the girl’s father retired and later got settled in Dehradun. Sakshi also happens to be a cousin of Abhilasha Bisht, a senior police officer of Jharkhand cadre who also served in Uttarakhand. According to reports, a few Indian team cricketers, including Harbhajan Singh and Asish Nehra, were also spotted in Dehradun. By midnight, a large posse of mediapersons had gathered at Hotel Competent Palace at Selaqui — on the Dehradun-Paonta Sahib road. The members of both the families were not communicative and the hotel staff had debarred the media from entering the premises. (With PTI inputs)
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Nadia case: Finally,
Pacheco surrenders
Panaji, July 3 Pacheco surrendered at the Sessions Court at Margao in the morning, two days after Supreme Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea. Soon he moved the court for an interim bail, but this plea was also rejected. Additional Sessions Judge Pramod Kamat remanded Pacheco in judicial custody till Monday, when his petition for regular bail will come up for hearing. The Crime Branch is investigating the death of Nadia, a close woman friend of the NCP leader. It has booked Pacheco and his close aide Lyndon Monteiro for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and destruction of evidence respectively. Seeking interim bail, Pacheco’s lawyer argued that although his client has been made an accused, there is nothing on record to specify his involvement in the crime. He said that the doctors at Apollo Hospital in Goa, where Nadia was brought immediately after she allegedly consumed poison on May 15, had stated that there were no marks on her body. “Even the doctors at Jupiter Hospital in Thane near Mumbai (where she was shifted later) had ruled out any bruises,” the lawyer said. The Crime Branch sought Pacheco's custodial interrogation suspecting his involvement in assaulting Nadia. It questioned Monteiro at its office in Dona Paula. He was given anticipatory bail by Supreme Court. The former OSD, who also held key posts like vice chairman of Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC), appeared before Crime Branch this morning. — PTI
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Nitish copter takes off with door open
Gidhaur (Bihar), July 3 Capt Raman and Capt Ravi, the pilots of the helicopter which was also carrying state Food Minister Narendra Singh and JD(U) spokesman Shivanand Tiwari, noticed the left door open and immediately touched down, Superintendent of Police (Jamui), Vinod Kumar said. The pilots and ground crew later checked the four-seater helicopter and closed the door before taking off again, the SP said. Kumar, accompanied by Singh and Tiwari, was returning from Gidhaur after meeting the family members of former Union Minister Digvijay Singh, who passed away in London last week. Additional Director General of Police (Security) A S Nimbran rushed to the state hangar after being informed about the incident. An inquiry has been ordered into the incident. — PTI
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Sitar legend Ravi Shankar turns 90
New Delhi, July 3 "As a young Indian in the 1950s, it was a matter of pride to see somebody like Panditji perform on world stage," said Maharaj Gaj Singh II of Jodhpur. He was joined by others like German ambassador Thomas Matussek, French ambassador Jerome Bonnafont, dancers Pandit Birju Maharaj and Sonal Mansingh at the event. —
PTI
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Probe ordered into submarines’ collision at Naval jetty
Mumbai, July 3 There was no injury to any Navy personnel or major damage to the vessels during the incident that occurred 10 days ago with Navy officers at the headquarters in New Delhi describing the incident as minor. "It is a minor incident that took place 10 days ago. A submarine was attempting a parallel berthing alongside another, which is a routine practice, at the Navy jetty in the Mumbai harbour," a Naval officer said today. The Navy has ordered a board of inquiry into the mishap involving the two vessels -INS Sindukesari and Sindhuratna - which are Kilo class submarines of Russian origin - in which they suffered minor damages. One of the two submarines involved in the mishap had recently returned after a refit in Russia. Since there was no damage to any equipment or weapon system, the Navy said a minor repair to the submarine would be carried out locally. But officers who did not want to be identified said the rudder of one of the vessels was damaged, requiring a minor repair. Though officially the Navy refused to respond to queries on the incident, the officers said these types of minor incidents did take place regularly when attempting parallel berthing. — PTI
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the government’s regulatory and policy framework needs to be aligned with requirements of the civil aviation industry to encourage serious investment in the sector that can absorb up to $120 billion by 2020.
New Delhi, July 3
Bangalore, July 3
Dehradun, July 3