IM operative Himayat Baig gets death sentence in Pune German bakery blast case

Indian Mujahideen operative Himayat Baig was awarded the death sentence by a Pune court on Thursday for murder, criminal conspiracy and other serious charges in the 2010 German Bakery terror attack.

Bystanders look at a destroyed bakery in Pune. The blast took place at a famous bakery in the city.

Baig was the only accused arrested for his role in the terror blast which killed 17, including five foreigners, in what was the worst extremist strike after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
The verdict draws the curtains on the Valentine's Day-eve tragedy of Feb 13, 2010 which shook the state's academic and cultural capital.
Pune Sessions Court Special Judge NP Dhote delivered the verdict in a packed courtroom.
During the arguments on the quantum of sentence in the afternoon, Baig broke down claiming innocence and pleaded for mercy. He was held guilty by the court April 15.
According to the prosecution, Baig planted the bomb under one of the tables in the German Bakery.
His lawyer A Rahman opposed the prosecution's claim that there was a link between the Indian Mujahideen, banned since 2004, and the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror group and that the two terror groups jointly carried out the blast.
He further contended that Baig was framed by the investigators and they had neither arrested nor presented the six other accused in the case.
"Vodafone provided evidence based on phone records that at the time of the blast, Baig was in Aurangabad. The accused had never been to Pune before the blast and six witnesses also gave evidence to this effect. The prosecution could not prove the conspiracy theory nor did it produce the other accused before the court," Rahman said soon after the verdict.
The prosecution had named Baig and six other accused in the chargesheet, including absconders Yasin Bhatkal, Riyaz Bhatkal, Iqbal Bhatkal, Mohsin Choudhary and Fazzay Kagti.
Another accused, Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, is currently undergoing trial in other terror cases in the country.
Rahman said though he respected the court verdict Thursday, he would appeal against it in the Bombay high court.
A resident of Beed district, Baig was nabbed from Udgir town in neighbouring Latur district by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad in September 2010, nearly seven months after the terror attack.
Among other offence, Baig has been convicted under Indian Penal Code Sections 302, 307 (murder and attempt to murder), 435, 474 (mischief by fire and explosive and forgery) and 120(b) (criminal conspiracy), besides other charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and the Explosives Act.
The court upheld the prosecution contention that the blast was "a carefully planned and executed attack" calculated to terrorise the general public, causing extensive damage to life and property.
The prosecution said the primary objective of the terror attack was to undermine and reduce faith of the common people in the elected government and destabilise the system of law.
The special judge upheld the prosecution argument that the terror attack caused deaths of foreign nationals, earning the country a bad name. Five foreigners were among the 17 victims of the Feb 13, 2010 blast.
After his arrest, the ATS charged Baig with hatching a conspiracy along with his six associates for the terror blast at German Bakery, situated in the up-market Koregaon Park area of Pune.
The investigators said the conspiracy for the terror blast was hatched in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in March 2008 in the presence of Baig, Jundal and Kagti. Baig's lawyer Rahman denied this charge.
After Baig returned from Colombo, he settled in Udgir where he operated a cyber cafe and remained in touch with the other accused using 25 different email identities, the prosecution said.
Baig surveyed the area near the German Bakery Jan 31, 2010 and under the orders of Yasin Bhatkal planted the bomb, the prosecutions said.
During the three-and-half-year-long trial, the prosecution examined 103 witnesses even as Baig rejected the charges claiming he was in Aurangabad on the day of the terror blast and was framed in the case.

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Bang Bang: Hrithik Roshan, Katrina Kaif to train for stunt scenes

Mumbai: 'Zindagi Na Milegi' co-stars Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif are gearing up to shoot action entertainer 'Bang Bang', which will go on the floors next month.
The film will be ready for release May 1, 2014.
Hrithik and Katrina will undergo training for their respective roles, said a source, and the movie is likely to have an aggressive marketing campaign.

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A Fox Star Studios production, 'Bang Bang' will be directed by Siddharth Anand of 'Bachna Ae Haseeno', 'Salaam Namaste' and 'Anjaana Anjaani' fame.
The film will be shot across Europe, Far East and India, and is said to feature "spectacular stunt sequences, intense chemistry and edge-of-the-seat excitement, as Hrithik and Katrina will scorch the silver screens in never-seen-before avatars", said a statement.
The screenplay of the movie has been written by Sujoy Ghosh, and Suresh Nair and Abbas Tyrewala have penned dialogues for it.
The music for the film will be composed by popular duo Vishal-Shekhar.

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Gold loan companies feel the heat as prices continue to fall

As gold prices continue to fall, gold loan companies could find the going increasingly difficult. An analysis by The Indian Express shows that these companies have kept a very thin margin for themselves while giving the loans, far lower than the limit set by the Reserve Bank of India.
For the companies, the potential losses are on two fronts. Slim margins are getting wiped out, but the interest cost of loans they have taken from banks and non-banking financial companies remains high — even as the value of the gold held by them dips sharply.
The risks are real. Just six months ago when the price of spot gold had reached a lifetime high of Rs 3,159 per gram in November, the companies were offering loans with effective margins of 23% against the 40% mandated by RBI. That cushion had slipped to 5.6% by Wednesday. When offering the loans, the companies had expected the price to remain the same, or even rise.
The companies accept that the average turnover for the loans is about six months. With current gold prices at Rs 2,569.5 per gram at the MCX, an investor who had taken out a loan against gold in November 2012 now has attractive options at the end of six months. Since her gold was pledged at a higher price, the difference is enough to make good on the interest charges as well. Or she can forego the redemption, as the value of the loan she took out is higher than the price of the gold she mortgaged.
Companies like Manappuram Finance Ltd, one of the two largest operating in the field, are however, certain they are on safe ground, because of the Indian way of thinking.
"There is an emotional attachment to the collateral for the family members and this overrules all other factors and induces the borrower to close the loan and take back the jewellery. Since average life of the gold loan is less than six months maintaining an LTV of 60 per cent, the asset will be sufficient to recover the interest and principal," said I Unnikrishnan, executive director and deputy CEO of the company.

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Delhi gang-rape: 'Sixth accused a juvenile'

New Delhi: In an important development in the Delhi gang-rape case, the Juvenile Justice Board on Monday ruled that the sixth accused in the December 16 incident is a juvenile.

Rejecting a plea seeking that the sixth accused in the horrific rape case be subjected to bone ossification test to medically verify his age, the court accepted his age as per the date of birth mentioned in the school certificate submitted by principal of his school.

According to the birth certificate, he was born on June 04, 1995, which means he was 17-year-6 month-11-day-old on December 16, when he committed the crime.

"He is a juvenile. The Juvenile Justice Board declared the sixth accused as juvenile on the basis of the date of birth on his school certificate which mentions June 04, 1995," said prosecutor Ishkaran Singh Bhandari after the hearing before the board.

The accused would turn 18 in June, he said.

The sixth accused is alleged to have played the most violent role in the whole incident.

As per the law, bone test is conducted only in the absence of the school certificate. In this case, as the certificate has been furnished, it will be taken as final.

The petitioners now plan to move the higher court.

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Who is Rajnath Singh?

Rajnath Singh, the new BJP president, has been here before. In 2005, when LK Advani stepped down as party chief, Rajnath Singh emerged as a consensus candidate to fill his shoes.

This time, when it became clear that Nitin Gadkari could not be given a second term, Rajnath Singh was again picked as the consensus candidate. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS, which was pushing for an unprecedented second consecutive term for Mr Gadkari, has tersely said that "dissidents have won." But for the RSS, the ideological mentor of the BJP, if first choice Nitin Gadkari could not be party president, then Rajnath Singh would be the next acceptable choice.

Mr Singh is an old RSS hand. He joined the Sangh as a teen and his interest in politics was shaped by his association with the organisation. He has held posts in the RSS.
He is also the BJP's face of the farmer. Mr Singh was born in a family of farmers in a small village of Uttar Pradesh in July, 1951. He, however, charted a different course for himself, earning a physics degree from Gorakhpur University, and becoming a university lecturer.

In 1969, an 18-year-old Rajnath Singh began his political innings with the BJP's student wing the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. He was deeply influenced by socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan and was an active participant of his movement against the Indira Gandhi government in the 1970s. Mr Singh was jailed during Emergency.

First elected to the UP Assembly in 1977, Mr Singh became education minister in the first BJP government in the state in 1991. During this stint, he introduced Vedic mathematics to the state syllabus. He would later hold many important positions, including that of UP Chief Minister and several portfolios in the central government during the NDA regime. He has also been a Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament.

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‘Hyderabad Metro Rail phase-I to be completed by 2014’

Hyderabad: Works related to Hyderabad Metro Rail are progressing at a brisk pace and phase-1 of the project will be completed by 2014 as per schedule despite the "challenges," officials said.

"Year 2012 is a landmark for Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR). Belying doom-sayers' predictions, works on the project are progressing at a brisk pace and we have so far completed construction of 351 piers in three stages. Other major works like workshops and central control room, etc. Are also progressing fast," HMR managing director NVS Reddy and L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Limited managing director VB Gadgil said. 
 They told mediapersons late last night that HMR would have a state-of-the-art Communication-based Train Control System, the first-of-its-kind in India.

"Structures and systems being used for HMR will also be far, far superior. We will also have aesthetic, linear and beautiful metro stations with cantilever designs," they added.

Each metro station would be built on a single pier.

The first consignment of rails for the project would arrive from France in the first week of February.

"We are quite aware of the challenges in urban infrastructure development. But challenges are like tonic for L&T," Gadgil noted.

Not only the country but also the world was looking at the HMR project as it was the largest such project taken up in Public-Private Partnership mode.

"There are differences (between HMR and L&T) but they are issue-based. We are sorting them out. The project will set benchmarks," Gadgil said in reply to a question.

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Hari Krishna meets Chandrababu Naidu

Nalgonda: N Hari Krishna met TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu hours before he entered Krishna district as part of his padayatra.
This could be a signal to the people of Krishna district of relationships as Hari Krishna, who was not very actively seen with Naidu, coming to meet him personally.
Harikrishna’s presence might indicate that all is well in the NTR family.
His son Jr NTR and his close friend Kodali Nani kept away from TDP with the latter being a YSRCP member. Jr NTR is married to Naidu’s niece Paranathi.
Harikrishna told reporters that he had come to meet Naidu on the eve of his entry to Krishna district from where the founder-leader of TDP hails.
Of all the NTR children, Harikrishna was the only one who spent his childhood at NTR’s village Nimmakuru.
Mothukupali Narsimlu, the TDP leader, who had been silent for some time, suddenly made an appearance at the Nalgonda show and said Lagadapati Rajagopal has no right to stop Naidu’s paayatra.

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CBI court permits Dharmana, Mopidevi’s prosecution

Hyderabad: A special CBI court on Monday permitted the Central Bureau of Investigation to prosecute Roads and Buildings Minister B Dharmana Prasada Rao and former minister Mopidevi Venkata Ramana under the Anti-Corruption Act.
Upholding the CBI’s contention that no permission was required from the government to prosecute them, the CBI court has directed Dharmana and Mopidevi to appear before it on January 31.
The state cabinet had rejected the CBI’s request earlier to sanction Dharmana’s prosecution. However, the same file was rejected by Governor ESL Narasimhan.
Mopidevi Venkata Ramana has already been arrested by the CBI in the Vanpic segment of disproportionate assets case of YSR Congress party president Jaganmohan Reddy.
In the changed scenario, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy is likely to accept the resignation of Dharmana Prasad Rao, sources said.

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Shutdown in Old City, situation tense

Hyderabad: Almost all shops and establishments in the Old City of Hyderabad on Monday were closed after a court in Sangareddy sent MIM supremo Asaduddin Owaisi to judicial remand for 14-days.
Asaduddin Owaisi was sent to judicial remand till February 2 after he surrendered before the Sangareddy Court in a case registered against him for allegedly abusing the then District Collector Anil Kumar Singhal and his deputy JC Bhima Naik on April 16, 2005 at Mathangi in Patancheru mandal.
As soon as the news spread, hundreds of MIM workers took to the streets in protest and shouted slogans against the State Government and police. While the shops and establishments were closed, several schools and colleges in the Old City declared holiday while cancelling the classes. The RTC services too were withdrawn in the Old City and presence of private vehicles too on the roads was thin.
Shops in several localities in the new city including Mehdipatnam, Tolichowki, First Lancer, Banjara Hills, Murad Nagar and Nampally too remained closed.
Minor incidents of stone pelting and lathicharge were also reported from a few places in the Old City.
Meanwhile, the city police have intensified patrolling and deployed pickets at sensitive places. According to a senior police, situation in the city was peaceful and under control.

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Thousands of women march over Delhi gang rape

Thousands of women have marched through the streets of the Indian capital Delhi to demand an end to gender based violence.
The protest is the latest in a number of demonstrations that have taken place since the gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old student in the city last month.
The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder was at the march.
 

 

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Ajmal Kasab hanged at Pune's Yerawada Jail

 

Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving Pakistani terrorist responsible for the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, was hanged at Pune's Yerawada Jail Wednesday morning, Maharashtra Home Minister R.R. Patil said.

"All the legal procedures in the 26/11 terror attacks case were completed. He was sentenced by the trial court, which was upheld by the Bombay High Court, Supreme Court, and his mercy plea was rejected by the president. Accordingly, Kasab has been hanged this morning at 7.30 a.m. in Yerawada Central Jail," Patil told mediapersons.

Kasab's mercy petition was rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee Tuesday night. Shortly thereafter, in the dead of the night, Kasab was shifted amid top secrecy and tight security to Pune's high-security Yerawada jail.

This morning, at 7.30 a.m., he was hanged in the jail premises after which a team of doctors declared him dead.

"The punishment to Kasab is a true tribute to the victims and martyrs of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks," Patil said.

It is not known where Kasab's last rites shall be conducted.

"Yes, Kasab has been hanged this (Wednesday) morning at 7.30 a.m. in Yerawada Central Jail," Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, who led the 26/11 terror attacks case, said.

In January 2010, nine of Kasab's associates, who had sneaked into Mumbai on the night of Nov 26, 2008, to unleash three days of terror, were quietly buried at an undisclosed location near Mumbai.

Kasab's end came just five days before the fourth anniversary of the brutal terror attacks that killed 166 lives and injured 300. (yahoo)

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Sania Mirza's ups & downs

Sania Mirza had watched silently as the ugly spat between Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi unfolded. But in a no-holds-barred assault after her wild card came through, Sania lashed out ITA and the male players for humiliating her by using her as a bait in the Lee-Hesh row.

 

Source : AP Success finally smiled on Sania Mirza after a long time when she clinched the French Open mixed-doubles title this year. Here's hoping she can replicate the same at Wimbeldon. However, it hasn't always been smooth sailing for the Hyderabadi lass. We take a look at her career highs and lows...Photo: AP

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  Source : Getty Images

Sania Mirza and her Russian partner Elena Vesnina suffered a crushing 2-6, 1-6 defeat against top seeds Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond in the doubles final at the Dubai Duty Free Women's Open. Photo: Getty Images

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Last year, Sania Mirza and her Russian partner Elena Vesnina's defeat to the unseeded Czech duo of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hredecka in the French Open final may have come as a disappointment to the Hyderbadi's fans, but it's also a matter of pride that she got this far. Photo: Getty Images

Sania broke into the competetive league in 2003 when she was made part of the Indian Fed team and won all the games she played . In the same year, she went on to create history when she took part in the Wimbledon Girls Championships and won the doubles title with her partner Alisa Kleybanova. She earned the Arjuna award for her achievements in 2004.

Sania made her Grand Slam debut in 2005 in the Australian Open. Her skills were put to test and Sania made it to the third round, only to then be beaten by top-seed Serena Williams who ended her run in the singles event. Photo: Getty Images

She then took part in the 2005 US Open and made an entry into the record books when she entered the quarterfinal round. It took 51 years for an Indian girl to get so far, the last being Rita Daburr, who had finished runner-up in the singles event in 1952. Photo: Getty Images

The following year, Sania's playing career reached its peak as she defeated biggies like Martina Hingis, Nadia Petrova and Svetlana Kuznetsova and earned a place in the top 30 world rankings. She became the highest-ever ranked Indian woman tennis player. She was aptly awarded the Padma Shri for her achievements. Photo: Getty Images

Sania also had a fair share of controversies to deal with. For starters, she upset some sects of the Muslim community for wearing short skirts during her games. A fatwa was issued against her on grounds of indecency by a Muslim cleric.

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Petrol prices set for a Rs 4 slash

The oil marketing companies are likely to slash the petrol prices by up to Rs. 4 a litre from July 1.

The trigger: The steep fall in global prices of crude oil as well as petrol on which the companies base the domestic prices every fortnight. The price cut will come as a big respite for the consumer after the recent increase of Rs. 7.54 a litre on May 23 - the highest so far.

But senior officials in the oil companies said the price cut would come only if the global petrol prices and the rupee-dollar exchange rates hold for the rest of this month.

The officials said the price cut could have been higher had the rupee not gone through a freefall against the dollar in recent times in the currency market.

With every one-dollar decline in global prices, the domestic price declines by around Rs. 0.34 a litre, while every one-rupee fall against the dollar leads to a price rise of 75-to-80 paise a litre.

The average global petrol price has come down to $99 a barrel from $115 at the time of the last price cut of Rs. 2.02 on June 2.

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Chennai: Bus falls off a flyover, 30 injured

Chennai: At least 30 passengers were injured injured when a crowded bus fell of a flyover in Chennai on Wednesday afternoon. The accident happened on the Gemini flyover on arterial Anna Salai when the driver of the state-owned Metropolitan Transport Corporation bus was taking a blind turn.
The incident occurred at around 1.40 PM when the bus driver on route No. 17M from Parrys to Vadapalani tried to take a left turn on the diversion on Anna flyover towards Nungambakkam, police said. But they refused to confirm eyewitness accounts that the driver was talking on his mobile phone at the time.
According to MTC officials there were 39 persons on the bus, including the driver and conductor. Traffic was badly hit and there was a massive jam following the accident on the flyover, forcing police to divert traffic.

The injured have been admitted to Royapettah Government Hospital and a nearby private hospital.
Tamil Nadu Health Minister VS Vijay, Social Welfare Minister B Valarmathy, Chennai Mayor Saidai S Duraisamy, City Police Commissioner JK Tripathy, along with top police officers and senior MTC officials visited the spot.
The bus was removed from the spot around three hours later with the help of a crane.

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Jindal case: India's charge of Pak institutions involved in 26/11 rubbished

The Pakistan Government on Wednesday dismissed India’s charge of Pakistani state institutions being involved in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
Addressing media in Islamabad, the Pakistan Prime Minister’s Advisor in the Interior Ministry, Rehman Malik, termed New Delhi’s charges as “baseless”, and added that Islamabad would not investigate the Mumbai terror attack on the basis of evidences provided by New Delhi, as they were “not reliable”.
Defending Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Malik rubbished 26/11 Mumbai terror attack plotter Syed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jindal's claims of the ISI being involved in the 26/11 attacks.
He said the ISI protects Pakistan and is not involved in carrying out terror strikes.
Malik squarely blamed Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram of "unnecessarily targeting the ISI", and claimed that all the allegations against Pakistan have been proven to be false till now.
He pointed out that Jindal was an Indian citizen (a resident of Beed in Maharashtra), and therefore, could not be said to be working on behalf of state or non-state actors from Pakistan.
"On previous occasions, when India accused the ISI of being behind the attacks, they were later proved to be wrong. Blaming someone is very easy, but proving is very, very difficult," claimed Malik.
Chidambaram had on Wednesday said that India had been on Jindal’s case for over a year, and the latter had admitted during interrogation by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police to the involvement of Pakistani state agencies in the 26/11 attacks.
Reacting to Malik's note on Tuesday, Chidambaram said that India was willing to share information about Jindal with Pakistan
Jindal was arrested at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on June 21 after being brought from Saudi Arabia, and is now in the custody of Delhi Police till July 5.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) has now produced a production warrant in Delhi's Tis Hazari court for Jindal's interrogation.
The ATS wants to question him regarding the Aurangabad arms haul case of May 2006 and the German Bakery blast case of February 2010.
The ATS also wants to question him regarding the sleeper cells active in Maharashtra and about his alleged connections with the Indian Mujahideen.
The Indian Mujahideen was allegedly behind the 13/7 serial blasts in Mumbai in 2011 and the ATS had filed a charge sheet in the case last month.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Intelligence Bureau are also interrogating Jindal. He has reportedly given inputs about the Lashkar-e-Toiba's sleeper cells in the country to the police, based on which, police teams will be carrying out raids across Maharashtra.
Police say Jindal used different names in each incident that he was involved in over the past six to seven years.

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Search warrant issued for Nithyananda

The police on Monday issued a search warrant for the arrest of controversial godman Nithyananda, who is reportedly absconding from his ashram at Bidadi in Ramanagara distict.

Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda told reporters after a high-level meeting with top police officials, including DGP Lalrokhuma Pachau, to discuss the clash that took place between the media and his followers at his ashram last week, that Nithyananda would be arrested in two days.

He said he has directed Regional Commissioner Shambhu Dayal Meena to submit a report to the government on the incident and also asked the DC and the Superintendent of Police to secure custody of the Dhyanapeetham premises, collect evidence about its activities and seal the ashram.

The government would hold discussions with the law department to seek cancellation of bail of the self-styled godman, who was granted bail by the Karnataka High Court in connection with a case of rape and criminal intimidation.

Nithyananda is facing criminal charges, including rape, on complaints from some former disciples last year. He was arrested and later released on bail.

On June, 8 police had lodged criminal cases against him and his followers for allegedly assaulting a mediaperson during a press conference at his Ashram.

The FIRs were filed on complaints from a regional TV channel reporter and activists of Nava Nirmana Sene in connection with an altercation at the ashram the previous night.

On a counter complaint by two followers of Nithyananda, police also registered two FIRs against the reporter and Sene activists for alleged outrage of modesty, physical assault and threat to life.

The reporter alleged he was assaulted and threatened after he asked a question at a press meet convened by the godman in the backdrop of charges of sexual abuse levelled against him by a US-based woman.

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Manmohan meets Suu Kyi, invites her to visit India

In the highest-level contact between India and Aung San Suu Kyi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday held talks with Myanmar’s democracy icon in Yangon and handed over to her an invitation from UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to visit India which has a “long-standing association” with her.

Dr. Singh, the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Myanmar in quarter of a century, and Ms. Suu Kyi held discussions for 45 minutes.

During their meeting which took place on the last day of the Prime Minister’s historic visit, Dr. Singh handed over to the Nobel laureate an invitation from Ms. Gandhi to visit India to deliver the next Jawaharlal Nehru memorial lecture.

Accepting in principle the invite, Ms. Suu Kyi said “I hope I will be able to take up the invitation not before too long”.

Emerging from the meeting at the Sedonia Hotel, where the 66-year-old opposition leader of Myanmar called on the Prime Minister sticking to protocol, Ms. Suu Kyi recalled the close association she and her parents had with Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and his family.

“India and Burma have been friends not only because of geographical proximity but also because of shared values, heritage and fight for independence,” she said.

Speaking first, the Prime Minister paid rich compliments to Ms. Suu Kyi, saying her “struggle and her determination has inspired millions of people all over the world”.

“We in India are very proud of the very long-standing association with her (Ms. Suu Kyi) and the members of her family,” Dr. Singh said.

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Chaos outside Eden after KKR felicitation programme

KOLKATA: There was chaos outside the Eden Gardens after an hour-long felicitation function of the IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riderswhen a large crowd broke barricades and engaged in scuffles with the police in a bid to enter the grounds on Tuesday.

Nearly 30,000 people were waiting outside the Eden Gardens as they were not allowed entry into the grounds which were already packed to capacity.

As the surging crowd made a determined bid to have a glimpse of the KKR team as well as its co-owners Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla, chaos followed and several persons suffered injuries in the melee.

The area was littered with shoes and other foot wears as the police made way for the KKR team members, Shah Rukh Khan and Tollywood actors for their departure.

West Bengal governor MK Narayanan, chief minister Mamata Banerjee, some of her cabinet colleagues and railway minister Mukul Roy were present at the felicitation progarmme, organised jointly by the state government and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.

When contacted, the police denied that there was any lathicharge or any injury outside the stadium.

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25 killed as Hampi Express rams into goods train in AP

At least 25 passengers were killed, 16 of them charred, and 43 injured when the Bangalore- bound Hampi Express rammed into a stationary goods train after its driver apparently overshot the signal near the station here in the wee hours today.



The impact of the collision that took place at 3:15 AM was such that four bogies of the express train derailed and one of them caught fire near Penukonda station in Andhra Pradesh coming under Bangalore division of South Western Railway.

Shocked survivors said it was an unbearable and gory sight to see fellow passengers burning and screaming for help as they stood helpless due to the searing heat. The cries of burning passengers still rang in their ears, they said on arrival in Bangalore, about 150 km from here.

Most of the victims were labourers coming from Hubli and Hospet in Karnataka and were on their way to Bangalore.

"As of now, 25 people have died and 43 people are injured in the train tragedy. The injured have been shifted to different hospitals across Anantpur district," Railway Minister Mukul Roy, who rushed to the accident site, told reporters.

"Prima facie it seems that the driver of Hampi Express overshot the signal," Railway Spokesperson Anil Saxena said in Delhi.

Deputy Inspector General of police (Anantapur range) Charu Sinha said the injured have been admitted to nearby hospitals at Penukonda, Hindupur and Anantapur.

"Rescuers used metal cutters to get inside the bogies where passengers were stuck," Anantpur Superintendent of Police Shahnawaz Qasim said, adding fire fighters and railway officers helped police in rescue operations.

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President polls: CPI(M) asks Cong to build consensus on candidate

CPI(M) on Thursday asked the Congress to take the initiative in building a consensus on the candidate for the Presidential election though it indicated it was not averse to supporting either Vice President Hamid Ansari or Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee for the post.

Party MP and politburo member Sitaram Yechury said the Left parties would discuss the Presidential Election issue at their meeting tomorrow.

“Election of the President with consensus is in the country’s favour but if there is no consensus then elections will be held...It is the responsibility of the ruling party to evolve a consensus on the issue. They should take initiative and try to build consensus,” he told reporters here.

Mr. Yechury noted that when A P J Abdul Kalam was fielded in 2002, the Left had nominated Lakshmi Shegal as there was no consensus.

To a question on Left’s stand on probable candidates like Mr. Ansari and Mr. Mukherjee, he said if the Congress has narrowed it down to two names, then Left would like to see on whose name there is consensus.

“That is the best approach. As far as Mr. Hamid Ansari is concerned, the Left had proposed his name for Vice Presidentship last time. As far as Mr. Pranab Mukherjee is concerned, the name was doing rounds last time also and we said we have no objection,” he said.

“The point is not that where we stand, the point is on whose name there is consensus,” Mr. Yechury said.

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