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UP poll results to be available on line on Friday
Kanpur, May 7 (PTI) For the first time, results of the Uttar Pradesh elections will be available on line, a senior official said today as the district administration completed preparations for the counting votes on May 11.
Additional District Magistrate (City) Ayyub Ahmed said that the preparations for counting of votes for nine assembly constituencies and Bilhaur Lok Sabha seat bye election have been completed and the staff trained in the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs).
For the first time, the poll results would be available on line, he told PTI.
Polling for assembly seats of Arya Nagar, Sisamau, Generalganj, Cantonment, Govind Nagar, Kalyanpur, Sarsaul, Ghatampur and Chaubepur and Bilhaur Lok Sabha constituency was held on April 7.
Ahmed said that the result of the Arya Nagar seat, being a small assembly constituency, was expected before noon while those of the other seats including from Bilhaur were like to be available by the evening on Friday. PTI
Parliament rocked by Gujarat fake encounter killings
New Delhi, May 7 (PTI) The fake encounter killings in Gujarat today rocked both Houses of Parliament with a belligerent Congress, supported by RJD and Left allies, disrupting proceedings demanding Chief Minister Narendra Modi's resignation.
Trying to put the BJP on the backfoot, Congress and Left parties' members in Lok Sabha with the backing of RJD, attacked the Modi government for its alleged involvement in the killing of Sohrabuddin in a fake encounter in November, 2005, and his wife, Kauser Bi a few days later.
In Rajya Sabha, the House was adjourned for the day soon after lunch break with the Congress and its supporting parties insisting on a discussion on the Gujarat killings.
The House had been adjourned twice earlier following vehement protests by Left parties on a letter of US lawmakers to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on India's ties with Iran and how it could impact on the India-US civil nuclear deal.
Speaker Somnath Chatterjee made repeated attempts to restore order but these proved futile during the morning session.
In the din, the BJP demanded an apology from Shipping Minister T R Baalu accusing the minister of "misleading" the House over the Sethusamudram project. The minister had said the matter was sub judice but the BJP had taken a different view.
When the House re-assembled at 1400 hrs, SP, Left and some Congress members shouted slogans against the Modi government and sought discussion on the matter. Following persistent demands, Deputy Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal allowed SP member Ramji Lal Suman to speak.
But as soon as Suman demanded dismisswal of the Modi government, BJP and BJD members strongly protested. BJP members also raked up the Nandigram issue. PTI
Results of roundtable on J&K encouraging: PDF chief
Srinagar, May 7 (PTI) Asserting that the peace process in Jammu and Kashmir was moving in the right direction, Chairman of People's Democratic Forum (PDF) Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen has said those who resort to divisive politics would get nothing out of such tactics but will only harm the interest of the people.
Addressing a public meeting at Shogpora village in Badgam district yesterday, Yaseen, who is also transport minister, said the results from the three roundtable conferences were "encouraging." The tangible results will soon become more visible once the recommendations of the working groups get implemented, Yaseen said.
The minister said peace process initiated by the central government with the cooperation of the state government to resolve all outstanding issues is moving in the right direction.
"The dialogue process would become more result oriented if those still reluctant to join the process become part of it," he said referring to separatists.
In addition to the various confidence building measures initiated by the government, he said steps need to be taken for release of those persons who are not involved with any heinous crime.
Yaseen said the government is committed to ensure overall development of all the three regions of the state particularly the far flung areas. PTI
AIIMS: SC issues notices to Centre, Venugopal
New Delhi, May 7 (PTI) The Supreme Court today issued notices to the Centre and AIIMS Director P Venugopal on a cross appeal filed by them against the Delhi High Court judgement relating to continuance of Venugopal as director of the institute.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan sought the reply as both AIIMS and Venugopal filed their appeals against the High Court order.
Venugopal has contended that Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss was not competent to continue as member of AIIMS.
AIIMS, in its appeal, has challenged the High Court order which says that the institute has to seek prior approval of the Centre before removing him and then giving a two week notice.
AIIMS has further said that since High Court has held that the Director constitutes an employee of the institute, there should be an upper age of 62 years applicable on him for retirement. PTI
SC stays death sentence of Tandoor murder case accused
New Delhi, May 7 (PTI) Supreme Court today stayed the death sentence of former Congress leader Sushil Sharma, who was convicted in the sensational Tandoor murder case.
A bench of Justices S B Sinha and Markandey Katju, while admitting the appeal filed by Sharma, who killed his wife Naina Sahni, referred the matter to a three-judge bench for further hearing. PTI
Powerlifters return with 45 medals in Asian Championships
New Delhi, May 7 (PTI) Indian powerlifters returned with a rich haul of 12 gold, 23 silver and 10 bronze medals from the Asian Powerlifting Championships in Kaohsing City, Taiwan.
The 68-member team competed in the sub-junior, junior and senior categories of the event, held from May 1 to 6, and finished runner-up in the team championship.
In addition to this, J Ramlaxmi was conferred the Best Lifter of Asia award.
The other gold medalists were Pooja S Kadam, T Narayanmma, Ratanmany Roy Choudhary, Raksha Maha Rao, Sampa Guha, Nithin Narayan Koli, D M Boir, Devendra Nagar, Ishar Singh, Nithin Sharma, Harshraj Agnihotri. PTI
Top juniors to vie for national titles
Mumbai, May 7 (PTI) Top ranked juniors of the country, including Ronak Manuja, Mansingh Athare and Tanvi Shah, would participate in the Ramesh Desai Memorial Junior Tennis Nationals for under-12 and 16 boys and girls here from May 14-19.
This is the first time that nationals for under-12 are being held, with Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association being the first to conduct it, the host association's secretary Sharad Kannamwar said at a press conference today.
The qualifying rounds of this six-day tournament will be played at the weekend.
Drawing tremendous response, the tournament - to be held annually - has attracted 418 entries from all over the country, Kannamwar said.
While the boys 12 and 16 main draw will be of 64 players, the girls under-12 and 16 main draw would comprise 48 players.
The tournament organisers expect more than 200 entries for the qualifying rounds.
Kannamwar added that MSLTA had organised a qualifying event in Pune last month to provide an equal opportunity for players from all over the state to gain a wild card rather than giving it to a pre-decided individual.
Sanaa Sohoni, Sahil Deshmukh and Sanskruti Jangle, the winners of the event, were awarded wild cards for the junior nationals while the remaining wild cards will be given as per the guidelines of the AITA. PTI
Clay best surface to make my comeback: Sania
New Delhi, May 7 (PTI) Sania Mirza believes that clay, although not her favourite surface, will be the ideal platform for her to make a comeback after a knee injury.
"Clay is the best surface for me to start playing again after the knee injury. That is what my trainer Heath Matthews also feels," Sania told PTI from Hyderabad.
The 20-year-old left last night for Morocco where she will mark her return to action at a USD 145,000 WTA Tour event after a gap of 2-1/2 months.
The Hyderabadi girl suffered a ligament injury while playing in the Qatar Open in Doha in February end.
Sania felt that sliding on the slippery dirt posed less danger for her ligaments than twisting and turning on the hard courts.
This is the third season in succession that injury has disrupted her schedule, and invariably it has coincided with the clay court season.
While the intense rehabilitation had helped her to go into the US hard court season at her best, Sania has not been able to make an impact at the French Open.
But Sania was pragmatic about it.
"That's true but injuries are part and parcel of every sportsperson's life," said Sania, who did fitness training and tennis practice for the last fortnight in her hometown.
After Morocco, Sania will be playing in Istanbul, a USD 200,000 event leading into Roland Garros.
After the clay court Grand Slam, she will be playing in Birmingham and Holland before entering Wimbledon.
Sania is yet to find a doubles partner for these events. PTI
Bangladesh ready to stretch India, says Ashraful
Dhaka, May 7 (PTI) As the Indian cricket team reached here aiming to avenge their World Cup loss, Bangladesh vice captain Mohammad Ashraful said his side had plans to stretch Rahul Dravid's men in the upcoming series.
"They will come hard at us as they probably lost out on a Super Eights spot because of us. But they could find themselves stretched here," said Ashraful, a batting success at the recent World Cup.
Ashraful, in line to succeed long-serving captain Habibul Bashar, said his side could repeat their World Cup performance against India in the series beginning later this week.
"We can beat the best, we have shown that in the past, and if everything clicks we can expect something good out of this series," said Ashraful, who will play his 100th ODI on Thursday.
The 22-year-old played a sterling knock of 87 in engineering an upset over then world's number one-ranked team South Africa during the World Cup in Caribbean.
Ashraful made more runs than any of his team-mates in scoring 216 from nine matches at the World Cup at an average of 36.00. He tends to do well against big teams and usually has been at the forefront of the run-charge in his country's wins against bigger Test nations such as Australia, India and South Africa.
Ashraful also felt that the absence of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly from the one-day squad could hurt the chances of the visiting Indians. PTI
Indian team arrives in Bangladesh
Dhaka, May 7 (PTI) Indian cricket team, led by skipper Rahul Dravid, today arrived here to play three one-dayers and two Test matches against Bangladesh.
India will play the first two one-dayers at Mirpur May 10 and May 12 and the third one at Chittagong on May 15.
The first Test match will begin at Chittagong from May 18 and second and final match at Dhaka from May 25.
Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Wasim Jaffar, V V S Laxman, Anil Kumble, Rajesh Pawar, V R V Singh and Ramesh Pawar, who are included only in the Test squad, will join the the team on May 15.
Squad for ODIs: Rahul Dravid (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Manoj Tiwari, Dinesh Mongia, Piyush Chawla, S Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Zahir Khan and R P Singh. PTI
India, Oman study joint investment plans
Dubai, May 7 (PTI) India and Oman are studying the possibility of setting up a joint investment company to enhance the economic cooperation between the two countries.
Increased economic cooperation was the focus of talks between N Ravi, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs, and Maqbool bin Ali Sultan, Oman's Minister of Commerce and Industry, in Muscat yesterday.
The two sides reviewed Oman-India relations, in addition to discussing ways of increasing the volume of investment in the two countries and the efforts in this regard by Oman Oil Company (OOC), Omani investors and the Indian side, the Omani news agency said.
They also discussed the possibility of setting up a joint investment company between the two countries to invest in vital sectors, it said.
Besides, the meeting touched upon the GCC-India summit to be held in India by the month-end, the agency reported.
Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, Oman's Minister for Foreign Affairs, also received Ravi and discussed bilateral cooperation and ways of promoting them.
Mohammed bin Nassir Al Khusaibi, Secretary-General of Oman's National Economy Ministry, also met Ravi and reviewed economic relations between the two countries. PTI
Yahoo-Microsoft talks no longer active
SILICON VALLEY, May 6 (PTI) Talks between Microsoft and Yahoo on a merger are no longer active even as possiblities of mutal cooperation still remain between the two.
Though merger talks were no longer active, the door was still open for them to cooperate, potentially as part of a partnership or joint venture in which Microsoft would spin off some of its online properties to Yahoo, a report in the Wall Street Journal said.
The report said both the companies discussed a "possible merger or other match-up that would pair their respective strengths." Yahoo stock price jumped by 10 per cent on the Nasdaq Stock Market on Friday, following reports the company was exploring a merger with Microsoft, as the two IT giants struggle to gain market share from mutual rival Google Inc.
Shares of Yahoo gained USD 2.80, or 10 per cent, to reach USD 30.98 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. According to media reports Microsoft has held talks in recent months to either buy Yahoo for up to USD 50 billion or forge a partnership.
The negotiations were aimed at allying two of the biggest players on the Internet, whose combined strengths in search, e-mail and instant messaging could provide a counterweight to Google's online dominance, reported the San Francisco Chronicle.
Analysts and investors supported the idea of them both combining forces, calling their products complementary. However, they were mixed on whether acquisition was a wise solution, with some saying there were a number of potential pitfalls involving control, culture and cost.
Both Microsoft and Yahoo declined to comment. PTI
Microsoft launches new version of Hotmail
Bangalore, May 7 (PTI) Microsoft Corp today announced the global launch of Windows Live Hotmail, a new version of its popular e-mail service, in 36 languages.
"The new service has been built to be a vast improvement over the previous Hotmail, having incorporated inputs from more than 20 million 'beta' testers," a Microsoft release said.
The new Live Hotmail will deliver safer, more powerful and productive e-mail experience with flexible access via the web, on a mobile phone or with an e-mail client, it said.
Later this month, Live Hotmail subscribers will be able to access their Windows Live Hotmail email and contacts for free, using Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 or Office Outlook 2007 via the new Microsoft Office Outlook Connector Beta.
"With Windows Live Hotmail, you can preview your email, drag and drop emails and personalise your inbox," Microsoft Online Services Group India Country Manager Jaspreet Bindra said in the statement. PTI
Canadian police had hiked security day before bombing
Toronto, May 7 (PTI) The Canadian police was so concerned about threats to Air India that it put extra security at Toronto's Pearson International airport a day before the Kanishka bombing on June 22, 1985, documents released at the Air India inquiry reveal.
The just-declassified documents paint a picture of the extra measures that were undertaken by Canada's national police force to combat the continuing threat against Air India, which had received repeated warnings of hijackings, sabotage and bombings for months.
Among the startling threats detailed in the documents is an October 1984 report that Ajaib Singh Bagri -- the man later tried and acquitted in the bombing -- had been put on an international committee of militants to plot Air India hijackings that month.
The inquiry was rocked last week when former intelligence official James Bartleman, who is now Ontario's lieutenant-governor, testified he had seen a specific threat targeting Air India Flight 182 on the June 22-23 weekend.
Bartleman said he was brushed off when he tried to raise it with an RCMP officer on June 18.
In fact, between June 18 and 20, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) had laid out its plans for heightened security for the ill-fated flight in memos filed at the inquiry, labelled secret, media reports said.
A June 20, 1985 note by RCMP Sgt. J.B. MacDonald said: "Extra security is in effect for Air India and will be for the next two Saturdays (June 22 and 29, 1985.) PTI
Amnesty for prisoners to benefit 11,000, including Indians
Dubai, May 7 (PTI) More than 11,000 prisoners, including many Indians, are expected to benefit from an amnesty declared by the King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.
"More than 11,000 men and women in the Kingdom's jails will be freed under the new amnesty announced by the king on Friday," Director-General of Prisons Maj-Gen. Ali Al-Harithy said.
The move is expected to benefit many Indians languishing in the prisons of the kingdom on charges of committing various offences.
Jail authorities in different regions would start releasing prisoners after receiving the terms and conditions for the release, he was quoted as saying by the 'Arab News'.
"The pardon covers convicts who do not pose a danger to security and are not involved in major crimes," Interior Minister Prince Naif said.
The king also instructed payment of debts and blood money for prisoners, who have insufficient funds of their own, to allow their reintegration into society.
Forty five per cent of cases in the Kingdom are related to private rights and that Saudi courts annually receive an average of 24,000 such cases.
About 11,500 prisoners were released in a similar amnesty by the king last year. PTI
Indians emerge as second largest tourists to London
London, May 7 (PTI) Indians are the second largest tourists to visit London last year, edging out the Japanese and reflecting the scale of burgeoning economy and growing middle-class incomes.
Indian tourists spent 139 million pounds last year -- up from 107 million pounds a year earlier and 78 million in 2003. About 212,000 Indians visited London last year, up from 130,000 in 2003, a survey found.
In contrast, Japanese tourists -- regarded as part of the scenery at the capital's tourist attractions -- are in decline. Some 230,000 Japanese nationals visited London last year, spending a total of 123 million pounds, compared with 434,000 who came to London in 2000, the Visit London's international passenger survey said.
The United States remains the single-most important country for London tourism, which is significant to the health of businesses in the British capital ranging from hotels to transport and retail.
Americans account for 16 per cent of all overseas visitors to the city. There were 2.4 million US tourist visits last year worth 1.5 billion pounds, the survey said.
The numbers have yet to return to pre-9/11 levels. In 2000 more than 2.9 million Americans visited London, spending more than 1.7 billion pounds, it added.
Record numbers of overseas tourists visited London in 2006, whereas more than 15 million, representing a 9.4 per cent growth, in 2005. They spent 7.5 billion pounds, it said. PTI
Pak may impose emergency amid growing support to suspended CJ
K J M Varma
Islamabad, May 7 (PTI) Apparently perturbed by growing public support to suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry, Pakistan government may impose emergency in the country.
Not ruling out the possibility of imposing emergency, Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told the media here last night "the Constitution provides provisions for imposition of emergency and has laid down certain conditions for it but this decision depends on the situation in the country." His remarks follow massive public receptions accorded to Chaudhry while he was on his way to Lahore to attend a lawyers' convention.
The suspended Supreme Court Chief Justice set off on May five by road to the capital of Punjab province and it took him over 24 hours to travel a distance of about 300 kms as thousands of lawyers and opposition activists greeted him all the way to Lahore, where he addressed the convention yesterday morning, instead of the night before when it was scheduled.
Aziz, whose reference of allegations of misconduct and misuse of authority against Chaudhry to President Pervez Musharraf has caused the biggest ever political crisis for the military ruler, did not explain provisions of the Constitution under which the government may clamp the emergency.
There is a provision in the Constitution to impose emergency and there are certain circumstances explained in the Constitution, which are required to impose emergency, state-run media quoted Aziz as saying while replying to a question. PTI
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