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Andhra boy is IIT-JEE topper
High court stays release of book on Radia
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Low-intensity explosion outside Delhi High Court
Bathinda girl’s way to the top
Not appropriate time to meet Sonia: Karuna
India’s no to Chinese General’s stopover
Maintain vigil: Antony to Navy
Hazare, Agnivesh turn spotlight on realty firms of Mumbai
Free medicines for pregnant women in govt hospitals
Another woman dies at Umaid Hospital
Singur pact to be made public: Mamata
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Andhra boy is IIT-JEE topper
New Delhi, May 25 Immadi Prudhvi Tej from a small town Dwarka Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh’s West Godavari district topped the JEE held on April 10. The test was taken by 4,68,240 candidates. Those who qualified today will now vie for the 9,618 seats available in the 15 IITs, the Institute of technology-BHU, Varanasi, and the Indian School of Mines. The Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs), the Rajeev Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology and Indian Maritime University will also admit students on the basis of the JEE merit list. Andhra students bagged seven out of the top 10 all-India ranks (AIRs), bagging the first four, the sixth, the eighth and the ninth ranks. About 40 students from the state are among the top 100. An OBC candidate, Janga Varun from Andhra, for the first time made it to the top 10 rankers in the general category, scoring the ninth AIR today. Only 1.9 per cent of the OBC candidates who appeared (2,700 out of 1,38,104) otherwise qualified. In the other special categories, the disabled have the highest qualification percentage. Of the 2,286 disabled students who took the test, 440 (19.2 per cent) qualified, with Pratyush Nalam topping the list (AIR rank 408). Interestingly, there will be no preparatory list for the Scheduled Caste candidates this year as the number of successful SCs is more than the seats available for them. Out of 45,172 SC candidates who appeared, 1,966 qualified (4.3 per cent); Ashish Sonone topped the category (AIR 718). Among the 18,125 Scheduled Tribe candidates who appeared, 766 qualified (4.2 per cent); Banoth Ramakrishna topped the section (AIR 177).
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High court stays release of book on Radia
New Delhi, May 25 Justice VK Jain granted an “ex-parte” injunction on the release of the book, which was to hit the stands in the first week of June, and also issued notices to Har-Anand Publications Private Ltd and Anand, who was convicted for contempt of court following a sting operation. The court, which asked Anand and the publisher to file responses, has fixed the hearing on July 22 on the plea of Radia, director of Vaishnavi Corporate Communications. Besides seeking a ban on the release of the book, Radia has sought Rs 1 crore as damages alleging Anand and the publisher have attempted to defame her by revealing “privileged communications” between a lawyer and a client. — PTI
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Low-intensity explosion outside Delhi High Court
New Delhi, May 25 The blast took place around 1.25 pm under the front wheels of a Ford Figo car parked metres away from the gate number 7 of the Delhi HC. As per Dharmender Kumar, Special Commissioner (Law and Order), it was a crude bomb which was kept in a black bag. “It is too early to say about the explosive used but prime facie it looks like a crude bomb that was kept inside a polythene bag,” said Kumar. White powder, sharpnels and springs were some of the contents of the bomb which could be seen strewn around at the blast site. The car (DL4C AF 7935) which was damaged in the blast belonged to HC lawyer Rajat Jain who had parked it there around 10 am.
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Bathinda girl’s way to the top
New Delhi, May 25 For Garg, an additional superintending engineer at Guru Nanak Thermal Plant in Bathinda, the news didn’t come as a surprise as many would have expected. Brilliance runs in his family. In 2007, his son Ankit was sixth in the JEE merit list. He has since finished B-Tech (Computer Science) from IIT Delhi and is now into research with Microsoft at Hyderabad. Ask Sumegha if she would follow in her brother’s footsteps and she retorts: “I have not thought about whether I would go into research. I will see and follow my instincts,” she says, a history of achievements backing her. Holder of the National Talent Search Examination (NTSE) Scholarship, Sumegha is particularly proud of the year 2011. It brought in its fold another major achievement for this demure Bathinda girl (she went to St Xavier’s School, Bathinda for Class X and finished Classes XI and XII from RB DAV School in the same town) who became one among the five Indian students to qualify for the International Physics Olympiad 2011. In July, she will represent India in the international competition at Bangkok. Interestingly, all former girl toppers of IIT-JEE have also been qualifiers of the International Physics Olympiad - be it Priya Gupta who stood second in JEE 2005 or Akanksha Sharda who was 18th in JEE 2010. As for Garg and his wife Urmila, Sumegha’s future was never an issue. In fact, they had never imagined their daughter would take the IIT route. “We were not clear of what she would pursue until she took the NTSE exam. That was when we discovered her aptitude for math,” says Garg, who sent his daughter for coaching to Narayna IIT Academy in Delhi’s Punjabi Bagh area. He said coaching was a must to crack the JEE, as it is structured today. At the academy, Director Anurag Mishra tutored Sumegha for cracking the toughest technical entrance exam in India. “She already knew a lot. She just needed to catch a little speed,” he told TNS today. Other tips came from big brother Ankit.
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Not appropriate time to meet Sonia: Karuna
Chennai, May 25 “There was an opportunity. There was time to meet Sonia (but) since my daughter Kanimozhi is in jail, it was not appropriate for me to meet her and I avoided meeting her,” he told reporters here after chairing a DMK legislature meet. He, however, added that senior Congress leaders, including Union Ministers P Chidambaram and Ghulam Nabi Azad had called on him (at the hotel where he was staying). Azad, Congress in-charge of Tamil Nadu, had stated yesterday after meeting Karunanidhi that Kanimozhi’s arrest would not impact ties between the two parties but insisted that the government would not interfere in the case. He had also said that Sonia is concerned about Kanimozhi being in jail and she expressed sympathies with the DMK over the issue. — PTI
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India’s no to Chinese General’s stopover
New Delhi, May 25 Confirming this, Defence Minister AK Antony said New Delhi had told the Chinese side that it would be too busy around that time with other engagements like the India-Pakistan defence secretary level talks and the visits of German and Afghan foreign ministers. “So, we said our hands are already full… if he is coming, he is welcome. Our defence secretary said he would be glad to meet him and instead of a structured dialogue, we can have time for lunch and dinner,’’ the minister added, while talking to reporters after addressing the Naval Commanders’ conference. The request for a daylong stopover had come from Chinese Army’s Deputy Chief Gen Ma Xiaotian. The two sides then agreed that the structured dialogue would be resumed when an Indian defence delegation visits China in the second half of June. India had suspended defence exchanges with China last July after Beijing refused a visa to Lt-Gen BS Jaswal, who was commanding Indian troops in Jammu and Kashmir, in what was seen by New Delhi as an attempt by China to question India’s sovereignty over the state. However, the two countries decided to resume defence exchanges at a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese President Hu Jintao in the Chinese sea resort of Sanya on the margins of the BRICS Summit in April. An eight-member Indian defence delegation, led by Maj-Gen Gurmeet Singh, a senior official of the Udhampur-based Northern Command, would visit China in the second half of the next month.
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Maintain vigil: Antony to Navy
New Delhi, May 25 The Indian Navy ought to take stock of the level of its operational preparedness from time to time in view of the volatile neighbourhood and the challenges of the Indian Ocean Rim (IOR), he said, addressing the Naval Commanders here. Later, talking to reporters, the minister said the developments in Pakistan, particularly the recent terror attack on the Mehran Naval base in Karachi, was a matter of serious concern for India. India was taking precautions. On whether there was any specific intelligence input on terror threats to India, he said he would obviously not like to share it in public but asserted that the country’s armed forces were monitoring the situation all the time. Replying to a question, he said attempts by terrorists to cross the border into Jammu and Kashmir were continuing. “There are many terrorists waiting across the border to infiltrate into our territory. But there is no increase in infiltration. Attempts are going on. But our armed forces are ever ready to prevent that.’’ In his address, Antony also spoke about piracy, describing it as a major concern for the government.
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Hazare, Agnivesh turn spotlight on realty firms of Mumbai
Mumbai, May 25 Earlier this week, Hazare and Agnivesh extended support to activist Medha Patkar, who is on an indefinite fast in protest against the government’s decision to hand over a slum area to a real estate developer without inviting bids. Patkar, whose fast entered the sixth day today, wants the government to change rules so that real estate companies have to bid for every project. Patkar is fighting against the eviction of slum-dwellers from a 140-acre plot of land in the Mumbai’s Golibar area.
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Free medicines for pregnant women in govt hospitals
New Delhi, May 25 To be formally launched by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in the Mewat region of Haryana on June 1, the scheme is expected to help India arrest the high maternal mortality rate (MMR) and infant mortality rate (IMR) of 264 per one lakh live births and 59 per 1,000 live births. India’s MMR is higher than that of even Sri Lanka, which has managed to reduce the same to 39. Faced with the challenge of faltering on the Millennium Development Goal of reducing maternal mortality rate by three quarters between 1990 and 2015, the Ministry of Health has now decided to offer free consumables to pregnant mothers at all government facilities besides free X-rays and other diagnostic facilities along with a special supplementary diet for expecting mothers. “This would be in addition to whatever the women get under the National Rural Health Mission,” Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said here today. The most important decision taken by the Centre is the offer of free two-way transport to the pregnant women, who, until now, were only being given free transport for admission to the hospital. They were required to go back on their own and more often than not they would leave the hospital without fully recuperating, thus aiding to the MMR. “Now the mother would be under our supervision till she is declared medically fit to leave. Free transport would further our efforts to reduce MMR,” Azad said. The move would also help India arrest IMR, he added. He was speaking about his ministry’s achievements over two years. As regards MMR, India is currently ranked 116th among 171 countries.
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Another woman dies at Umaid Hospital
Jodhpur, May 25 Protesting the attack on their colleagues, resident doctors of the hospital went on a strike demanding security for them. Sarika (22) died due to excessive bleeding after delivery. Following her death, her family members, alleging negligence by doctors, went berserk, smashing window panes and damaging furniture. Sarika’s husband Jaswant Singh said she was admitted to the hospital yesterday and delivered a baby girl today through normal delivery. He said Sarika was completely normal till the delivery, but later started bleeding profusely. The doctors took her to the operation theatre and operated upon her for removal of the uterus, but the bleeding remained unabated and she succumbed to it. “We were kept in dark during this entire process,” he alleged. The victim’s family also refused to take away her body demanding suspension of the erring doctors, including the superintendent. Significantly, Sarika’s parents are employees of the same hospital. The agitated family members could be controlled only after the police arrived. The hospital administration has filed a complaint against the victim’s relatives. Meanwhile, the Divisional Commissioner has sought a report of the incident from RK Aseri, principal of SN Medical College and a team comprising four doctors has been constituted by him to inquire into the matter. — PTI
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Singur pact to be made public: Mamata
Kolkata, May 25 Mamata also stated that she would invite Tata Motors to restart its project in Singur, but denied that Ratan Tata or any other officials of Tata Motors had approached the Industries Department or the WBIDC with any new proposal. Talking to mediapersons after the Cabinet meeting, Mamata said she had requested Justice Rajindar Sachar of the Sachar Commission on Minorities to come to Kolkata in June and advise the government on what steps could be taken for the improvement of the condition of minorities in the state. The Chief Minister said after consulting with Justice Sachar the government would take an elaborate scheme for an overall development of the minorities. Mamata also said the government had decided to reopen the case pertaining to the killing of Sain family members at Burdwan in 1970 in which CPM members, including former Industries Minister Nirupan Sen and former MP Anil Bose, had been allegedly involved. Also, the government will look into the findings of several judicial commissions set up the former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu on the Cossipore mass killing and alleged misuse power by the then Congress CM Siddhartha Ray.
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New Delhi, May 25
New Delhi, May 25
New Delhi, May 25
New Delhi, May 25
