2100 HRS.
18-05-2013
THE HEADLINES:
- Mumbai Police may also seek custody of Sreesanth in the IPL spot fixing case.
- Special Investigation Team in Gujarat decides to seek Supreme Court's guidance on Kodnani death penalty issue.
- Chinese
Premier Li Keqiang arrives in New Delhi tomorrow on his first visit
abroad after assuming office; India to convey its concerns over recent
Chinese incursion in Ladakh sector.
- Heat wave sweeps Vidarbha region and several other parts of the country.
- AND IN SPORTS::
- Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna reach the semifinals of the Rome Masters Tennis.
- Raha Moharak becomes the first Saudi Arabian women to scale Mount Everest.
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Mumbai police say, they may also book cricketer S Sreesanth in the IPL
spot fixing case. Addressing a press conference in Mumbai today Joint
Commissioner of Police, Mumbai Himanshu Roy said that its crime branch
may book him in a spot fixing case registered by it and seek his
custodial interrogation. He said they are going deep into the
investigation and Sreesanth might be booked in their case also in
Mumbai. He said the crime branch officials searched the two rooms in a
five star hotel in Mumbai booked in the names of Sreesanth and Jiju
Janardanan last night and recovered relevant material.
Roy said that a Mumbai bookie Ramesh Vyas has been
arrested along with another bookie Pankaj Shah alias Notice alias
Babboo. 32 mobile phones and 18 sim cards were seized from Vyas. He
said interrogation of Vyas revealed he was in touch with certain bookies
whose names figure in the IPL fixing case. The Joint Commissioner
said that the Police today have obtained permission from court to take a
mirror image of the seized laptops and other gadgets for further probe. One more bookie Pankaj Shah, who was in touch with Vyas was
held from suburban Mulund today. So far the Mumbai crime branch has
arrested a total six persons involved in IPL spot fixing and recovered
important evidence from them.
Meanwhile, Delhi Police have
despatched teams to Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Hyderabad to track
the money trail in the spot-fixing case in which it has arrested three
cricketers--Sreesanth and fellow Rajasthan Royals players Ajit Chandila
and Ankeet Chavan -- and 11 bookies. Lawyers of all the three players
have denied the involvement of the cricketers in the spot-fixing. Delhi Police Commissioner, Neeraj Kumar told reporters that some players have confessed to spot fixing. Chennai Police say, they have zeroed-in on the local head of the bookies, who is absconding. Meanwhile, IPL Chairman, Rajiv Shukla today said that BCCI Working
Committee is meeting in Chennai tomorrow to discuss the latest
developments.
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The
Special Investigation team has decided to seek the Supreme Court's
guidance on Kodnani death penalty issue in Gujarat. The decision comes
after the reported U-turn by the Gujarat Government on the death penalty
for former minister Maya Kodnani and nine
others, convicted in 2002 Naroda Patiya riot case in which 96 people
were killed. A top SIT official said in Ahmedabad that they
will file an application very soon before the special bench of the
Supreme Court apprising it about the recent Gujarat Government's
decision to withdraw the sanction for filing appeal in the Naroda Patiya
case.
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A Delhi court today dismissed the
bail plea of an accused in the 10-crore rupee railway bribery case.
Former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal's nephew is among those
arrested in the case. Special CBI Judge Swarana Kanta Sharma rejected
the bail plea of Dharmender Kumar after CBI contended that his release
could adversely affect probe which was in initial stages. Dharmedra
along with co-accused Vivek Kumar had allegedly delivered 90 lakh
rupees, part of the 10 crore rupees bribe amount, to Bansal's nephew
Vijay Singla in
Chandigarh to get a plum post for a Railway Board official.
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New Delhi will convey its concerns over the recent Chinese incursion
in Ladakh sector at the highest level tomorrow when Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh holds talks with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang. The
Chinese Premier is arriving in New Delhi tomorrow on a three-day visit,
his first trip abroad after assuming office. Soon after arriving,
Li will hold restricted talks with Singh, who will also host dinner for
the visiting dignitary at his official residence. Asserting that India
thinks very highly of Li's gesture of making the country his first
overseas stop after assuming charge, Spokesperson in the Ministry of
External Affairs Syed Akbaruddin said such high-level exchanges are
aimed at enhancing trust and understanding as well exhibit sensitivity
to each other's concerns. On Monday, the
two leaders, accompanied by high-level delegations, will hold
comprehensive talks on key international, regional and bilateral issues.
On the issues to be discussed between the leaders of the two
countries, which are witnessing differences on various crucial matters
including boundary, waters and on market access under economic ties, JS
(East Asia) Gautam Bambawale said, everything is on the table. He said
the two Prime Ministers will talk about these subjects. Since Chinese
incursion being the recent occurrence, it will be discussed, Bambawale
said.
India has been pressing for clarification and confirmation
on LAC in the India-China border areas pending the final settlement.
On the economic front, Bambawale said India will continue to press for
access to the Chinese market. India faces a growing trade deficit with
China estimated to be around 29 billion dollars by 2012. On his second-leg of journey to Mumbai, officials said Li will
attend a meeting with business leaders and visit Tata Consultancy
Services facility. The Chinese Premier will also meet family
members of late Dwarkanath Shantaram Kotnis, an Indian physician
dispatched to China to provide medical assistance during the Second
Sino-Japanese War in 1938.
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Twenty Eight new
Ministers were inducted in the Karnataka Council of Ministers today.
Twenty are of the Cabinet rank and eight Ministers of State. They were
administered the oath of office by Governor H R Bhardwaj at a ceremony
in Raj Bhawan in Bangalore. Our Correspondent reports that the State
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah held intensive discussions with the party
high command in New Delhi for three days to finalise the list of
Ministers.
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Intense heat wave is sweeping several parts of the country.
Entire Rajasthan is in grip of severe heat wave. Churu is the hottest
place in the state where maximum temperature was recorded at 48.5 degree
Celsius today. Our correspondent reports that maximum temperature was
above 47 degree Celsius at most of the places in Bikaner Division.
The severe heat wave conditions in various districts of Vidarbha
region of Maharashtra further aggravated today. Nagpur city recorded the
maximum temperature of 47 degrees Celsius, the highest maximum
temperature in the region for the day. Our Correspondent quoting
Met office reports that the heat wave conditions are expected to
continue in the region for the next couple of days, according to the
information received from the Regional Meteorological Centre in
Nagpur.
In Uttar Pradesh the day’s maximum temperature is ranging above 40 degrees with Allahabad simmering at 44.8 degrees. Normal life was affected in Punjab and Haryana as heat wave conditions
intensified in the region. Hisar in Haryana was the hottest with a
maximum of 46 degrees Celsius. Narnaul in Haryana recorded a maximum of 45.6 degrees, six degrees above normal. In Punjab, Amritsar recorded a maximum of 44.4 degrees, while Ludhiana and Patiala recorded 44.3 and 43.5 degrees Celsius. Met department said the condition will continue to prevail over next couple of
days.
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A committee
looking into US giant Walmart's lobbying activities to enter India today
submitted its report to Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot. Former
Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court Mukul Mudgal, who headed
the panel set up to look into lobbying activities by Walmart, submitted
the report to Pilot at his residence.
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Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi today slammed the opposition
parties for stalling the Food Security Bill in Parliament. He asserted
the UPA government is determined to enact the legislation for the
benefit of people. He was addressing the concluding rally of the Kerala
Yathra undertaken by Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee President Ramesh
Chennithala in Thiruvananthapuram today. He said he can understand
politics but he cannot understand political parties hurting the poor
of the country.
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Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP)
today announced candidates for four parliamentary seats of Punjab. BSP
National General Secretary Narendar Kashyap said in Chandigarh today
that party is expecting early Lok Sabha polls and that is why BSP has
started gearing up for the election.
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The Army today foiled an infiltration bid by terrorists in Macchil
sector of Jammu and Kashmir. A Junior Commissioned Officer was killed
while foiling the bid along the Line of Control in Kupwara district. An
Army spokesman said in Srinagar, troops of 56 Rashtriya Rifles noticed
some suspicious movement of about four persons along the LoC early in
the morning and challenged them. The ultras who were trying to sneak
into the Valley from Pakistan occupied Kashmir, opened fire on the army
positions
including on Dingeri Post, which was retaliated.
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Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna have reached the semifinals of
the Rome Masters after getting a walkover from rivals Tomas Berdych and
Radek Stepanek. Berdych, who shocked world number one Novak Djokovic in
the men's singles in a gruelling three-setter, cited muscle fatigue as
the reason for him withdrawing. Bhupathi and Bopanna will now fight it
out with Mexico's Santiago Gonzalez and American Scott Lipsky for a
place in the final. Meanwhile, the duo of Sania Mizra and Bethanie Mattek-Sands have crashed out of the women's event.
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The first-ever Saudi woman has climbed Mount Everest. Raha Moharak
reached the top of the world's highest mountain today as part of the
four person team. Raha Moharak
has broken two records. She is not only the first Saudi woman to climb
Mount Everest, she was the first to attempt it.
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In China, at least 55 people were killed and several others reported
missing in rain and hailstorms in south China. The official Chinese news
agency Xinhua says officials have been sent to undertake disaster
relief operations in worst-hit Guangdong and Jiangxi Province.