New Delhi, February 22, 2012 Italy on Tuesday raised the pitch over the killing of two Indian fishermen by its marines escalated by moving the Kerala High Court seeking quashing of murder charges against them and its visiting envoy demanding that truth be ascertained. However, India made it clear that the issue would be handled according to the law of the land and said the “very fair and free judiciary” will take the right decision. Italy’s concerns on the incident ...
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New Delhi, February 22, 2012 As cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines is battling to stay afloat, a consortium of lenders is believed to be considering fund support to the beleaguered carrier. A 13-bank consortium, led by State Bank of India, is considering providing short-term funding to the airline but the quantum of support is yet to be decided, sources said. Each member bank has to get approval from its board and the process would take some time, the sources said. There ...
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New Delhi, February 22, 2012 The intercepted conversation between the executors of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack and their Pakistani handlers during the carnage will be played in the Supreme Court on Thursday after the prosecution said it was an important evidence showing the strikes were “pre-planned“. Hearing an appeal of Mohd Ajmal Amir Kasab, the sole convict of the carnage, against his death sentence, the court on Wednesday said it would hear the intercepts at 2 p.m. on ...
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New Delhi, February 22, 2012 Within days of non-Congress Chief Ministers flaying the Centre's move to set up a counter-terror hub, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wrote to seven of them, explaining that the primary purpose of the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC), located within the Intelligence Bureau (IB), was to coordinate counter-terrorism efforts throughout the country. Seeking to allay the apprehensions of the Chief Ministers on encroachment of the States' rights ...
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New Delhi, February 20, 2012 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said the agriculture sector is likely to achieve about 3.5 per cent annual growth in the 11th Five Year Plan, but stressed on scaling it up to 4 per cent or more in the next Plan (2012-17). Addressing the golden jubilee convocation of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) here, Dr. Singh said the government is committed to at least double the spending on research and development in the farm ...
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Agartala/Ahmedabad, February 20,012 Chief Ministers of Tripura and Uttarakhand today joined the anti-NCTC chorus taking to 12 the number of States opposing the counter terror body. Left Front-ruled Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the proposal to set up the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC), saying the “unilateral” order would only create “misunderstanding”. Mr. Sarkar requested Dr. Singh that the NCTC ...
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TIRUNELVELI, February 20,012 The State expert panel on the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) that studied the safety arrangements in nuclear reactors is expected to submit its report to the government shortly after going through documents and recording the apprehensions of the local community. Though the anti-KKNPP struggle committee has termed that Sunday's talks with the State expert panel as only “a beginning”, it seems that there would not be any more talks ...
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HYDERABAD, February 20, 2012 Imagine a war scenario in which miniaturised missiles equipped with Precision-Guided Munitions (PGMs) are unleashed from a mother missile to take out select enemy targets like an ammunition depot while avoiding collateral damage. A mother missile acts as a “force multiplier” and to achieve the desired result, each miniaturised missile will have a seeker to ensure its independent motion, irrespective of the mother missile's motion. ...
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LUCKNOW, February 20, 2012 Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Sunday said her Bahujan Samaj Party would win more seats now than in 2007, pointing to the response to her rallies. In 2007, the party bagged 206 seats. Ms. Mayawati was speaking to journalists after voting at the Lucknow Montessori Intermediate College in the fourth phase of the Assembly elections. Ms. Mayawati reached the polling station at noon and cast her vote at booth number 235. She was ...
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Kollam, February 20, 2012 Two Marines of the Italian ship Enirca Lexie, charged with the killing of two Indian fishermen off Kerala, would be produced before a local magistrate here on Monday afternoon. The Marines — Latorre Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone — were arrested by Kerala police on Sunday and brought to the land from the ship, which was intercepted and berthed at Cochin Port. They have been charged with murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. The ...
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New Delhi, February 19, 2012 Kerala police on Sunday took into custody two armed personnel of an Italian vessel from which gunshots were fired killing two fishermen off Alappuzha on Wednesday. Latore Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone, who are part of the six-member security detail of the ship Enrica Lexie from Italian Navy, were brought to the shore this evening nearly eight hours past the deadline set by the police last night. The two were brought to the shore ...
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Mumbai, February 19, 2012 The birth anniversary of Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, is being celebrated across Maharashtra on Sunday. Various cultural programmes, based on the life of Shivaji Maharaj, have been organised in urban as well as rural parts of the State. Maharashtra Governor K Sankarnarayan offered floral tributes to Chhatrapati Shivaji at the Shivaji Park at Dadar in central Mumbai. The programme had been organised by the Brihanmumbai ...
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New Delhi, February 18, 2012 Days after "daring" the Election Commission (EC) to take action against him over his remarks on sub-quota for minorities Union Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma termed the controversial comments as "a slip of tongue." Mr. Verma said in Lucknow on Saturday that his remarks were not intentional. “I have been addressing four to five rallies everyday and sometimes I fail to pay attention that in which reference I am saying something,” ...
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Kanpur, February 17, 2012 Holding non-Congress governments responsible for lack of development in Uttar Pradesh in the last 22 years, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said only Congress, led by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, can change this “bad situation” and provide good governance in the State. Addressing his first election rally in the U.P. Assembly elections, the Prime Minister targeted Chief Minister Mayawati over allegations of corruption against her ...
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Kanpur, February 17, 2012 Holding non-Congress governments responsible for lack of development in Uttar Pradesh in the last 22 years, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said only Congress, led by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, can change this “bad situation” and provide good governance in the State. Addressing his first election rally in the U.P. Assembly elections, the Prime Minister targeted Chief Minister Mayawati over allegations of corruption against her government ...
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New Delhi, February 17, 2012 Lessons have been learnt from the experience in the age row involving General V. K. Singh but there was no strain in relations between the government and the Army over the issue, Defence Minister A. K. Antony said on Friday. The Minister also stressed that the country cannot afford to have such controversies in the future and already steps have been taken to avoid them. “We have learnt lessons from it... There is no strain...Now what we ...
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February 17, 2012 Indian policy-makers have not yet fully recognised the role of the auto rickshaw sector for the development of sustainable public transport system in the country, a recent study published by EMBARQ India on ‘Sustainable Urban Transport in India: Role of the Auto-Rickshaw Sector' states. The report, published by the World Resources Institute, shows that not only do auto-rickshaws provide an alternative to cars, but they also facilitate the use of public ...
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February 17, 2012 The Delhi High Court judgment on the LGBTQ community is a step closer to a life of dignity Attitudes can be moulded and mind sets transformed by even subtle but progressive changes in the law. In July 2009, the Delhi High Court decriminalized consensual gay sex by revoking the archaic Section 377. This landmark decision has led to a gradual but steady acceptance of sexual minorities by society, concludes a recent study. Ensuring greater self-confidence for the ...
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New Delhi/Kochi, February 17, 2012 The killing on Wednesday, by Italian naval personnel stationed on an oil tanker, of two fishermen who had set out to sea from the Neendakara fishing harbour in Kerala, is threatening to escalate into a diplomatic row. The coastal police on Thursday registered a case of murder against the guards of the ship. Even as the threat of piracy in the Indian Ocean has led governments and private companies to deploy armed guards on board, ...
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LUCKNOW, February 17, 2012 Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi staged a ‘road show,' dubbed as ‘jan sampark yatra' (contact with the public), here on Thursday to drum up support for party candidates contesting the Assembly polls in the State capital. Riding on a bus embossed with the party's poll slogan, ‘Utho, jaago, badlo' (arise, awake and change) the Amethi MP's road show stretched for about 34 km across localities, some of them very congested, in all the five ...
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