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Andhra Pradesh: Two ministers charged with corruption reportedly quit
Views ::56 Hyderabad: Two cabinet ministers in Andhra Pradesh, charged with corruption, have reportedly handed in their resignations late last night to Chief Minister Kiran Reddy. Home Minister P Sabita Indra Reddy and Roads and Buildings Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao have been named in chargesheets issued by the CBI in the Jaganmohan Reddy disproportionate assets case.

The Chief Minister, who called on Congress president Sonia Gandhi and other party leaders on Saturday, was told to drop the two ministers in view of the mounting demand from both the Opposition and a section of leaders within the ruling party.

After being named as an accused by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in August last year, Mr Dharmana had submitted his resignation but it was not accepted by the Chief Minister, who also refused to give permission to the CBI to prosecute him.

Ms Reddy had also offered to quit after she was named a CBI chargesheet filed last month, but the Chief Minister advised her not to do so.

Both the ministers, who had served in the Cabinet of Jaganmohan Reddy's father YS Rajasekhara Reddy (2004-09), have been accused of showing undue favours to companies which invested in Jaganmohan Reddy's business.

The Congress government had been defending the ministers, saying they only implemented the decisions taken by the Cabinet and were not the beneficiaries of the controversial orders like allotment of lands, grant of licenses and leases to companies.

The demand for dropping the tainted ministers gathered momentum after two central ministers, Ashwani Kumar and Pawan Kumar Bansal, smeared by scandal, resigned recently.

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India's shame: mother demanding justice for dead daughter beaten
Views ::110 Aligarh: On camera, a group of policemen are seen manhandling a woman in a pink salwar kameez and a man near her.

One cop then drags the woman along the ground.

This is how the police in Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh responded to a distraught couple whose six-year-old daughter had been found dead this morning in a garbage dump.

Aligarh is 330 kms from Lucknow, the state capital of Uttar Pradesh.

The child's body was found this morning and in a few hours, nearly a hundred protestors gathered in the neighbourhood shouting slogans against the police. Officers used batons on the crowd, and attacked the girl's parents.

The policeman who dragged the mother on the ground has been transferred while four others, who manhandled the protesters, have been suspended. Deputy Inspector General of Aligarh Division, D Prakash, acknowledged that "unnecessary force was used on protesters".

The police have said an enquiry will be completed in three days.

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Earthquake in Iran: 40 feared dead, massive tremors felt in North India too
Views ::105 New Delhi: Tremors were felt across North India shortly after 4 pm today as an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck Iran,where at least 40 people were reported dead at 5 pm and many more were feared killed, according to local media.

The epicentre was reportedly along the Iran-Pakistan border.

"The aftershocks felt were 6.3 (magnitude) and at 4.24pm. No damage as such occurred," said RS Dattatreya of the Meteorological Department in Delhi.

In Delhi and Gurgaon, some posts on Twitter shared photos of evacuated buildings.

Earlier in the day, Arunachal Pradesh recorded an earthquake of 5.5 on the Richter scale. No casualties were reported.

Tremors caused by the Iran quake were felt this evening in Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh.

The US Geological Survey says the quake was at a depth of 15.2 kilometers (nine miles).

Across the Gulf, high-rise buildings swayed and officials ordered evacuations. Dubai has the world's tallest tower, the 828-meter (2,717 -foot) Burj Khalifa.

The quake also shook large parts of Pakistan including Islamabad, where buildings swayed, and the largest city Karachi, where tremors also prompted many to flee buildings in terror.

The earthquake was not felt in the Iranian capital Tehran, however.

It comes a week after a strong earthquake struck near Iran's Gulf port city of Bushehr, killing at least 30 people and injuring 800 but leaving Iran's only nuclear power plant intact.

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Mamata Banerjee under attack over Left student leader's death
Views ::114 Kolkata: Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, stopped outside the hospital today where Sudipto Gupta, a young leader of the Left's student party died last evening, allegedly from injuries he received while being transported on a bus along with other activists to a prison in Kolkata.

"The death of the student leader is very unfortunate," said the chief minister, who did not enter the hospital. "I'll do everything to help."

As the 24-year-old student was taken this afternoon from the hospital to the office of the Students Federation of India, the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) to which he belonged, his angry fellow leaders tore into Ms Banerjee, whose police force, they allege, is responsible for Mr Gupta's death.

The CPM has demanded a judicial inquiry. "The SFI student leader has died in police custody, so the state government is solely responsible," CPM leader Sitaram Yechury said.

The driver of the bus that was taking Mr Gupta and other activists to jail has been arrested and charged with culpable homicide, the alleged result of rash and negligent driving. Another student activist has undergone a seven-hour surgery on his arm, which was nearly severed, allegedly when the police smashed it through the window of the bus.

The students were protesting against the government's decision to postpone college union elections. They say Mr Gupta was hit on his head over and over by the police, and injured so badly that they could barely recognise him. But the police says that students were leaning out of the bus, shouting slogans, and that in the chaos, Mr Gupta hit his head on an electricity pole as he was getting out of the bus.

He will be cremated this afternoon. An autopsy report is expected later today.
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Millionaire Malala: 15-year-old seals deal to publish memoir
Views ::129

London: Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head at point-blank range by Taliban for advocating girls' education, has become a millionaire by signing a deal for around USD 3 million to publish her memoir.

"The life story of a 15-year Pakistani girl who was shot by the Taliban will be published later this year, in a deal reported to be worth around 2 million pounds (USD 3 million)," the UK-based Guardian newspaper reported.

The book, titled "I am Malala", will be published by Weidenfeld & Nicholson in the UK and Commonwealth and by Little, Brown in the rest of the world, the paper said, adding that a spokeswoman for the publisher could not confirm reports about the value of the publishing deal.

"I want to tell my story, but it will also be the story of 61 million children who can't get education," Malala said.

"I want it to be part of the campaign to give every boy and girl the right to go to school. It is their basic right."

She said: "I hope this book will reach people around the world, so they realise how difficult it is for some children to get access to education."

Malala escaped death by inches when she was shot on a school bus in north-western Pakistan on October 9, 2012 as the bullet entered just above her left eye and ran along her jaw, grazing past her brain.

The Taliban had said they targeted Malala because she promoted girls' education and "Western thinking".

Surgeons in Pakistan removed the bullet before she was air-lifted to the UK for life-saving treatment at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.

Last month Malala was discharged from the hospital after she had an operation to rebuild her skull and restore hearing.

She has now returned to school and joined the girls in Year 9.

Malala's family are currently living in the West Midlands. Her father has been appointed education attache at the Consulate of Pakistan for the next three years.

She began writing a blog on the BBC Urdu service under a pseudonym about life in the Swat Valley in 2009. She was shot after her real identity became known. Since the shooting, Malala has been awarded several peace prizes and is the youngest person to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Police recover car used by BSP leader Deepak Bhardwaj's killers, detain suspects
Views ::134 New Delhi: The Delhi police have detained a few suspects in the murder of Bahujan Samaj Party leader Deepak Bhardwaj and recovered the Skoda car in which the killers came to his farmhouse and shot him yesterday.

Investigators are also questioning Mr Bhardwaj's family, from whom he had been estranged of late, and guards at the sprawling farmhouse on the Delhi-Gurgaon border. Mr Bhardwaj had invested in a township in Haridwar but apparently had a dispute with the builders. The police are looking up that link as well.

Police say the suspects were detained outside Delhi and are being brought to the capital. They are also hunting for a Santro car that the killers changed to after abandoning the Skoda.

Three men drove into Mr Bhardwaj's farmhouse yesterday morning and shot him twice from close range after an argument. CCTV footage from the farmhouse, released by the police, shows the suspected attackers fleeing in a grey Skoda car. (Watch)

Mr Bhardwaj was a real estate businessman and a rich politician. While contesting the 2009 Lok Sabha elections from West Delhi, which he lost, he had declared assets of Rs. 600 crore, making him the richest candidate in the polls.

Mr Bhardwaj's post-mortem was conducted today. Two bullets were found in his body.

Police said the shooters had possibly done a recce of the farmhouse as they seemed to know where to find Mr Bhardwaj in the premises. An unlicensed gun is suspected to have been used to kill him. .

Drugs worth seven crores in school bags, 'teacher' caught in Mumbai
Views ::136

Mumbai: A woman with a South African passport has been arrested with seven kilos of Methamphetamine drugs, popularly known as Meth, at the Mumbai airport where she was flying in from Mozambique. Police says drugs are worth Rs. 7 crores.

The woman claims she is a teacher with a private school in South Africa, and has come to Mumbai for a vacation.

The drugs were found in two school bags with her.

The woman is currently in custody of the Air Intelligence Unit of the Airport's custom's wing.

Will always stand by Sanjay, says sister Priya Dutt
Views ::131

Mumbai: Three days after actor Sanjay Dutt was sentenced to five years in jail by the Supreme Court in an arms case related to the 1993 Bombay blasts, his sister and Congress MP Priya Dutt today said that the actor and his family respected the verdict. She, though, added that the family was exploring all possible options of securing relief for the actor.

Here is the full text of Ms Dutt's message to the media:

Firstly I thank you all. Your support has been of immense value to both me and my family.

It is in your lowest moment that we can truly know your friends. I would like to thank the entire film industry, prominent personalities and most of all, the people of India for their overwhelming gestures of love and support shown towards Sanjay and our family.

A 20-year ordeal has finally come to an end. 20 years is a lifetime for most people. In Sanjay's case this has been a lifetime of tension and anxiety, a lifetime of repentance and reform, a lifetime of punishment and trial. For Sanjay, versions of verdicts have been passed on him throughout these years. He has been judged by all during these 20 years and sometimes, in the most harsh ways. Yet, he has stood strong and firm, normalised his life, served society, helped and stood by his colleagues, friends and family and is today, one of the most dependable people in the film fraternity.

As a sister, as a family...we will always stand by him. That is what any loving family will do. It is only logical that as a family, we will explore every option. If the purpose of incarceration is reform and punishment for crime committed, then I believe he has undergone both. As a family, we accept the judgement of the hon. Supreme Court, and we stand strong together in this trying time to give each other the strength and courage. Sanjay has been strong and has accepted the decision of the honourable court.

Governor will consider appeal if Sanjay Dutt requests
Views ::125

New Delhi: With Press Council of India (PCI) chief Justice Markandey Katju asking the Maharashtra Governor to pardon film star Sanjay Dutt in a case related to the 1993 Mumbai blasts, the government today indicated that the matter will be looked into and an "appropriate" decision taken once such a plea is made by the actor.

"Governor will use his discretionary power when there will be an appeal to him. He has the power to pardon. We should not comment on it," Law Minister Ashwani Kumar said.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said the authorities will take cognisance of the matter at the appropriate le

"Justice Katju has been a very eminent judge of the Supreme Court. Whenever he articulates a position on an issue, people both inside and outside the government listen to it carefully," Mr Tewari told reporters outside Parliament.

"But there are various aspects to the issue and I am sure that those people within the government, whether at the state government or level of various other instrumentalities of government, who are seized with the responsibility of dealing with the issue, take cognizance of the statement and then, if required, formulate an appropriate response and then come back," he said.

In a letter to Maharashtra Governor K Sankarnarayanan, Justice Katju sought pardon for Mr Dutt, whose five-year sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court in an arms case related to the 1993 Bombay blasts.

Mr Katju sought pardon for Mr Dutt under Article 161 of the Constitution, saying the actor had not been found guilty of playing a role in the serial blasts and had suffered a lot.

Ratnagiri Bus Accident: 37 tourists killed, 15 injured, 5 serious
Views ::124 Ratnagiri (Maharashtra): According to the latest report, 37 people have lost their lives while another 15 stand injured, including five foreign nationals, when a bus plunged into a river in Khed area Tuesday on the Mumbai-Goa highway near here, officials said.

Among the victims are at least five foreign nationals but authorities could not confirm whether they were killed or injured in the accident.

The accident took place around 3.50 am when the Goa-Mumbai bus belonging to Mahakali Travels suddenly lost control on the Bharna bridge over Jagbudi river and crashed into the river, 190 km from Maharashtra capital Mumbai, said B.L. Shinde, an official from the highway department.

"So far, 37 bodies have been removed from the site and there are some more injured passengers, including five whose condition is serious," Shinde told.

The injured, among them the bus driver have been taken to hospitals in Khed and Chiplun and some of the critical victims have been taken to Mumbai.

According to preliminary and eye-witness reports, the accident occurred when the ill-fated bus was attempting to overtake another vehicle, though the exact cause has yet to be determined.

This is considered among the worst accidents on the treacherous Mumbai-Goa highway. Traffic movement has been completely stalled on the highway after the accident.

Home Minister R.R. Patil on Monday informed the Maharashtra assembly that 828 people have been killed and 2,411 seriously injured in road accidents on the Mumbai-Goa highway in the past three years.

Presently, seven highway police help centres are responsible for manning traffic on this highway and the requirements of increasing the number of such centres would be examined, Patil had said.

Following persistent demands by locals and tourists alike, the work on the four-laning of the highway is currently underway. .

Pakistan Parliament passes resolution against Afzal's hanging
Views ::105

Trying to fish in troubled waters, Pakistan�s parliament on Thursday passed a resolution condemning the hanging of Afzal Guru and demanded the return of his body to his family.

Two days before it completes its five-year term, the National Assembly or lower house of parliament passed the resolution moved by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who heads a special parliamentary panel on Kashmir.

Besides condemning the hanging of Guru, 2001 Parliament attack convict, the resolution expressed concern at the situation created in Jammu and Kashmir by the execution.

The House called for Guru�s body to be handed over to his family. Guru was hanged and buried within Tihar Jail in Delhi in February.

His execution triggered protests in Jammu and Kashmir.

Pakistan-based terror groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed have vowed to take revenge for the hanging.

The parliamentary resolution further said the international community should not remain as silent spectators in efforts to find a solution to the Kashmir dispute.

It said steps should be taken to implement the United Nations Security Council�s resolutions on the Kashmir issue.

The resolution called for an end to alleged killings in Jammu and Kashmir and the removal of the army from towns and cities of the Kashmir Valley.

It further said all prisoners should be freed, �black laws� repealed and curfew withdrawn from the region.

Suspected Pak militant arrested for attack on CRPF camp in Srinagar
Views ::607 Srinagar: In a major breakthrough in yesterday's fidayeen or suicide attack on the CRPF in Srinagar, police have arrested a Pakistani militant, sources said.

The militant, identified as Talha, was arrested from Chattabal area of Srinagar, said sources. He is reportedly a resident of Multan in Pakistan.

Two militants were killed in the attack while two others had escaped. The arrested militant was among those who had escaped, sources said.

The militants, carrying what looked like cricket bags, entered the CRPF camp and walked onto a large open field were off-duty officers and children were playing a cricket match. They opened fire without cover and lobbed grenades at the officers.

Five jawans and four civilians were injured in the suicide attack, the first in Srinagar after a gap of three years.

Earlier today, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said in Parliament that the two terrorists killed in Wednesday's attack seemed to be foreign attackers and items recovered from them appeared to be of Pakistani origin.

Mr Shinde said about 50 CRPF personnel of the 73 Battalion were present at the school for further deployment when the incident occurred.
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Ram Singh's post-mortem suggests suicide, say sources
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Doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) have completed the autopsy of Delhi gang-rape accused Ram Singh who was found dead in his cell in Tihar Jail yesterday. Sources say the initial findings of the post-mortem suggest suicide. Police had found Ram Singh hanging in his cell in Jail No 3 Monday morning, and say that he killed himself.

Ram Singh's parents and the Metropolitan Magistrate investigating the case were present throughout the two-hour procedure conducted by a team of three doctors, which included the head of the forensic department. An official copy of the autopsy report will be handed over to the magistrate.

Meanwhile, Tihar Jail authorities have sent a report detailing the security arrangements that were in place for Ram Singh to the fast-track court that is trying the gang-rape case. The report will be examined by the court later today.

Ram Singh, accused of leading a gang of six that allegedly battered and fatally raped a medical student on a bus in Delhi last December, was killed, allege his parents and lawyer. They want the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to determine how he died.

Jail authorities claim that the 35-year-old committed suicide by using his shirt and threads from his sleeping mat to construct a rope, which he then hung from a grille on the 10-foot-high ceiling by using a plastic bucket. But they are unable to explain how three cell-mates slept through the hanging in a tiny 12 by 12 feet room.

They also do not have answers for why or how a guard, posted round-the-clock near the cell because Ram Singh was thought to be suicidal, missed what happened. Though there are security cameras in this section of Tihar, none were positioned to film Ram Singh's cell.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to whom the Tihar Jail chief reports, said "Whatever happened was wrong. When the inquiry report comes up, appropriate action will be taken."

Yesterday, the four other men accused in the gang-rape and lodged in Tihar pleaded in court that they be shifted from there as they felt unsafe. The sixth suspect is a juvenile and is being tried and kept separately.

The heinous assault on the 23-year-old medical student triggered street protests, tough new anti-rape laws and a national debate about the lack of security for women across India.

Delhi gangrape: Probe on to find truth behind Ram Singh's death
Views ::80 The main accused in the Delhi gangrape-murder case, Ram Singh, was found hanging in his Tihar Jail cell under mysterious circumstances on Monday morning, raising questions over monitoring of undertrials in the prison. While the preliminary report suggested it was a case of suicide, Ram Singh's family and lawyer said there was no reason for the gangrape accused to kill himself and alleged that he was murdered inside the jail. The death of 33-year-old accused has raised questions over the security of prisoners in Tihar Jail as Ram Singh was already under a 'suicide watch' and there were two more inmates in the cell in which he was found hanging at around 5:45 am. A guard was also posted outside his cell to keep an eye on him. .

Hyderabad blasts: at least 11 killed, 50 injured
Views ::157 Hyderabad: 11 people have been killed and 50 injured in two bomb blasts in a busy commercial area of Hyderabad this evening. There were reports of a third blast that were not confirmed by local officials. (See first pictures)

The blasts occurred about five minutes apart near a pair of cinemas and a bus stand in Dilsukhnagar, a crowded and congested area that houses a large fruit and vegetable market. (Hyderabad helpline number)

Two bombs were planted on bicycles. "One bomb killed eight people, the other killed three," said Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde. "It is possible the death toll will rise," he said. (Read: Intelligence had prior alerts: Shinde)

Sources in his ministry said the blasts were a terror strike by "a well-trained" group which timed the explosions to cause the maximum damage.

"This is a dastardly attack, the guilty will not go unpunished," tweeted the Prime Minister's Office. (Read: Dastardly attack, says PM)

Mr Shinde said intelligence alerts about a possible terror attack had been received and shared with state governments over the last 48 hours, but he said there was no information specific to Hyderabad. (Read: Top investigative team rushed from Delhi)

The explosions took place within 7.01 and 7.06 pm near the popular Konark and Venkatadri cinemas.

The local police struggled for hours to clear the packed area so that it can collect remnants of the explosives used and collect other evidence.

In 2007, twin blasts in the city killed 40 people.

Today's terror strike comes as the Parliament opened for its budget session. Many cities have been asked to be on high- alert since Mohammed Afzal Guru, was hanged in Delhi's Tihar Jail earlier this month for his role in the deadly parliament attack in 2001. (Read: Major cities on high alert)

The secrecy with which the execution was carried out and Guru's burial in Tihar Jail caused deep resentment in his home state of Kashmir, where many said his body should have been returned to his family.

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WHO IS AFZAL GURU ? - BIOGRAPHY (Mercy Petition)
Views ::149 Afzal Guru Mercy Petition.
Afzal Guru Biography:
Who is Afzal Guru?Mohammad Afzal, also known as Afzal Guru, is a Kashmiri who was convicted of conspiracy in the December 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament and was sentenced to death by the Supreme Court of India in 2004. The sentence was scheduled to be carried out on 20 October 2006. Afzal was given a stay of execution and remains on death row.

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Afzal Guru Tihar Jail Video.
Afzal Guru Photos and Bio.
Afzal guru attacked parliament in 2001.
Justice for Afzal Guru.
Afzal Guru Mercy Petition.
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Omar Abdullah Afzal Guru

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Kalpana Chawla death not accidental - NASA well kept secret
Views ::822 Columbia shuttle crew kept in dark about re-entry risks
New Delhi: A NASA employee after 10 years has revealed that the Columbia crew was not informed that the shuttle had suffered damages and they might die on re-entry.

The Columbia space shuttle was headed home from a 16-day science mission after it disintegrated while re-entering the Earth's atmosphere over Texas on February 1, 2003 due to damage to its left wing.

Ten years ago, experts at NASA's mission control were in a dilemma whether to let the astronauts know that they may not survive on re-entry or face orbiting in space until the oxygen ran out.

NASA officials could have done nothing to save her seven doomed astronauts even if they had known how badly the shuttle was damaged.

Wayne Hale, who became a space shuttle program manager mentioned in his blog about the fateful day.

"If it has been damaged it's probably better not to know. I think the crew would rather not know. Don't you think it would be better for them to have a happy successful flight and die unexpectedly during entry than to stay on orbit, knowing that there was nothing to be done, until the air ran out?,� Hale said.

�When Mission Control had it confirmed that the shuttle had broken up over Texas, Flight Director Leroy Cain ordered the room on lock-down and all computer data saved for later investigation,� he added.

The crew was far from the International Space Station and had no robotic arm for repairs. It would have taken too long to send up another shuttle to rescue them.

From being a shy girl from Haryana�s Karnal to reaching out to the stars by becoming an astronaut - the life and times of NASA astronaut Kalpana Chawla were recounted yesterday as her school remembered its most famous alumna on her 10th death anniversary.

Faculty members, students and staff of the Tagore Bal Niketan School here and local residents paid their tributes to Kalpana Chawla to mark the occasion.

Born in Karnal, 130 km from Chandigarh, Chawla studied at the school and became the first woman of Indian-origin to go into space aboard the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) re-usable spacecraft, Columbia, in 1997.

The space scientist, who did her engineering degree in aeronautical engineering from Chandigarh's Punjab Engineering College (PEC), was chosen by NASA for her second space mission in January 2003.

A planetarium has also been set up in her name in Kurukshetra town, 40 km from here. .