India, in real time: 7th July, 2011

Policemen guard the north side entrance of the 16th century Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple

9:30 pm: WB govt always ready for talks: Mamata to Maoists

A day after Union Home Minister P Chidamabaram's comment that talks could be held with Maoists in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee gave a call to the ultras to lay down arms, saying her government was ''always ready'' for talks.

"The government will not act in a revengeful manner and is always ready for talks. Those willing to surrender will be offered rehabilitation and a special package," the chief minister told.

9:00 pm: India lodges protest with Denmark; summons its Envoy

India has lodged a strong protest with Denmark over the remarks made by Danish High Court about the human rights conditions in this country while rejecting plea to extradite Purulia arms drop accused Kim Davy, saying such observations were unacceptable.

Sources in the Government said that the External Affairs ministry summoned the Charge d''Affaires on Monday and conveyed in no uncertain terms that such remarks about India''s human rights records and prison conditions were unacceptable.

The envoy was told that Davy was an accused in arms dropping case and he was a wanted by Indian law.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram had yesterday termed the Danish High Court's observation as "disappointing" and strongly rejected the argument that prisoners are subjected to torture here.

"Kim Davy verdict is very disappointing. We reject the argument that prisoners are subjected to torture or that human rights of the accused will be violated," Chidambaram had said.

8:30 pm: Dey murder: Police custody of accused extended till July 13

A local court extended the police custody of bookie Vinod Asrani arrested in connection with the murder of journalist J Dey till July 13.

Asrani had allegedly called Dey and other city-based journalists to a restaurant in suburban Mulund to help the killers to identify their target. Asrani alias Vinod Chembur was arrested on July 3.

Last week, police arrested gunman Rohee Thangappan Joseph alias Satish Kalya (34) and his associates Abhijeet Shinde (28), Arun Dake (27), Sachin Gaikwad (27), Anil Waghmode (35), Nilesh Shendge (34) and Mangesh Agawane(25) in connection with Dey''s murder. More on this story

8:12 pm: CBI promises to supply Radia transcripts to 2G accused

Acceding to the plea by 2G scam accused for the transcripts of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia's tapped telephonic talks, the CBI promised a Delhi court to hand it over to them on July 12.

While the CBI agreed to supply transcripts, Special Judge O P Saini decided to have an electronic scanner installed in the court premises for scanning prosecution documents and distributing their copies among the accused.

ASJ Saini decided to let a defence counsel Vijay Aggarwal instal the scanner at his own cost to expedite the process of scrutiny of documents so that arguments on framing of charges in the case could begin from July 15. Read on

7:50 pm: SC rejects PIL claim of Rs 37,000 cr spectrum loss

The Supreme Court today declined to entertain a PIL that alleged a whopping loss of Rs 37,000 crore to the exchequer on account of private telecom operators inflating their subscribers base to garner the scarce spectrum.

The petition alleged that besides causing the huge loss, the modus operandi adopted by the telecom operators posed serious threat to national security as thousands of SIM cards were distributed free of cost without basic verification.

A bench of justices G S Singhvi and H L Dattu sought to know from counsel Subhash Sharma locus standi of the petitioner "Aam Admi", an NGO, and said it was not inclined to entertain the PIL as no sufficient materials were placed before it.

7:30 pm: CWG scam: HC issues notice to CBI on bail plea of accused

The Delhi High Court issued notice to the CBI on the plea of A K Reddy, promoter of Hyderabad-based AKR Constructions, seeking anticipatory bail in the CWG Timing, Scoring and Results system scam.

Reddy, who is evading arrest in the case in which sacked CWG OC Chairman Suresh Kalmadi and former Secretary General Lalit Bhanot are in jail, has moved the High Court after the special CBI Judge had dismissed his plea on June 15.

Taking note of the application of Reddy, who had already been declared a proclaimed offender, a bench of Justice Mukta Gupta asked the probe agency to respond by July 12, the next date of hearing.

7:10 pm: Tiwari rapped for refusing to undergo DNA test

Veteran Congress leader N D Tiwari was today rapped by the Delhi High Court for "flouting" its orders to undergo a DNA test to decide the paternity suit of a 31-year-old man claiming to be his biological son.

"We will not allow you (Tiwari's counsel) to frustrate the order. Let''s not allow the impression to gather momentum that you can flout the court orders in this manner," Justice Gita Mittal said, asking the counsel to produce medical records of the 85-year-old leader on July 11.

"Mark my words, for every wrong submissions, a cost would be imposed on you and I am not going to adjourn this case. Your application would be heard only after you give your blood sample," Justice Mittal said.

6:50 pm: Shashikant Sharma appointed defence secretary

Shashikant Sharma, currently a Secretary in Department of Financial Services, has been appointed as Defence Secretary succeeding Pradeep Kumar, who has been chosen the next Central Vigilance Commissioner.

The announcement in this regard was made today after the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet cleared Sharma''s name for the post, Defence Ministry officials said here.

Sharma, A 1976 batch Bihar cadre IAS officer, has earlier served as the Director General (Acquisition) in the Defence Ministry and will take up his new assignment on July 31.

Holding an MSc degree in Administration Science, Sharma has had a stint of total six years in the Defence Ministry in various important capacities.

6:30 pm: Probe Sibal's role in 2G scam, SC told

An NGO moved the Supreme Court seeking CBI probe against Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal and Attorney General G E Vahanvati for allegedly favouring Reliance Infocom on the penalty over 2G licences and bypassing of rules to give opinion to former minister A Raja respectively.

The application filed by Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) alleged that Sibal reduced the penalty to Rs five crore from Rs 650 crore against Anil Ambani-headed RCOM for violations in the UASL agreement.

Regarding Vahanvati, it alleged that he disregarded the Law Ministry in giving opinion to Raja on 2G spectrum when he was Solicitor General in UPA-I government.

"Sibal abused his position as minister to over-rule the unanimous view taken by senior DoT officials including the Telecom Secretary, to benefit a private operator by closing the issue with only a penalty of Rs 5 crore."

6:15 pm: Ramesh hails Supreme Court order on environment clearance

Describing the Supreme Court order in Lafarge uranium mining case as a "landmark" judgement, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said it will set the stage for further reforms in environmental governance and make it more effective.

Ramesh said the apex court has given a "new and enhanced" status to the National Forest Policy prepared under the "personal leadership" of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and vowed to implement the direction "in letter and spirit".

"The MoE&F believes this is a landmark judgement which will set the stage for further reforms in environmental governance," the Minister said.

6:00 pm: Strong Lokpal bill will bolster UPA: Agnivesh

Social activist Swami Agnivesh said the whole of India will support the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government if a 'strong draft' of the Lokpal bill is placed before parliament in August.

'I am hopeful the government would place a strong draft of the Lokpal bill in parliament in the first week of August and if they do so, not only the entire Anna Hazare team, but the whole of India would support and praise the UPA government,' Swami Agnivesh told.

'Instead of speaking for the farmers in Uttar Pradesh and trying to embarrass Mayawati, Rahul Gandhi and Manmohan Singh should launch a padyatra (march) in Assam to pay their respects to those farmers who died in the June 22 police firing in Guwahati,' he said. More on this story

5:30 pm: Goodbye Maran. What now?

Yahoo! had predicted last month that Maran was on his way out. Today, as he drove out of the prime minister's house after putting in his papers, it was clear the Tamil Nadu politician had been forced out. His official Mercedes, with a red beacon, was gone. He drove out in a more modest Honda City. He was smiling, but he knew he could well be driving into political wilderness, or if luck runs out, into jail.

There was a lot going against Maran, but the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had remained reluctant to sack him because of 'coalition compulsions'.

Here's a quick overview of the Maran saga

5:15 pm: Opposition terms Maran's resignation as too late

The Opposition parties on criticized Union Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran for delaying his resignation in connection with the 2G spectrum scam.

"Maran's resignation has come very late. He should have morally resigned much before, especially after his role in the 2G scam surfaced," said Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Brinda Karat demanded a thorough investigation into Maran's alleged role in the 2G scam, saying "Maran should have put his papers down much before."

Maran resigned from the Union Cabinet earlier in the day after coming under the Supreme Court's scanner in the 2G Spectrum allocation scam with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filing its fresh status report on the probe before the apex court.

5:00 pm: Uttar Pradesh is run by pimp: Rahul Gandhi

Firing a fresh salvo at the Mayawati Government, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today said “dalals” were running Uttar Pradesh as people of the state are “divided“.

“You are not together. Uttar Pradesh is divided and that is why dalals (touts) are running the state, Rahul Gandhi said, addressing people in this village on the third day of his padayatra to Aligarh.

“You may not like it. But this is true. Since you are not together that is why this is happening here. Unless you unite, you will continue to suffer. Unless you don’t understand what is happening, the train will not come on its track,” the young Congress leader told the villagers.

Rahul began his foot march on Thursday from Sarole village in the district at 6.30 a.m. and walked about 7 km to reach here on his way to Aligarh, where he is slated to address a ‘kisan mahapanchayat’ on July 9. Read on

4:30 pm: 38 killed as train rams into bus in Uttar Pradesh

At least 38 people were killed and about 30 injured when an express train collided with a bus at an unmanned crossing in Uttar Pradesh's Kanshiram Nagar district early, officials said.

The accident took place around 2 a.m. at an unmanned railway crossing in Thanagaon, about 250 km from here, when the Chhapra Mathura express train rammed into the bus carrying members of a wedding party on their way back home to Etah, Government Railway Police inspector Dalveer Singh said. More on this story

4:00 pm: Rahul's security must be taken care of: Soni

Union Minister Ambika Soni today sought "proper" security for Rahul Gandhi after a youth carrying a revolver was detained while trying to move close to the Congress leader during his padayatra in Uttar Pradesh.

"The security for people like Rahul Gandhi must be taken care of and proper steps taken," Soni said when asked about the incident.

The man with a licensed .32 bore revolver was nabbed by Special Protection Group personnel accompanying Rahul, when he was found heading towards the second ring of the AICC General Secretary's security cordon.

3:30 pm: Maran joins growing list to be consumed by 2G scam

A well known amateur radio operator, Dayanidhi Maran joins a growing list of top politicians and corporate honchos to be felled by the 2G spectrum scam in which DMK was further dealt a body blow with its two leaders already behind bars.

Maran is the second union minister to resign after his party colleague A Raja quit as Telecom minister in November last in connection with the scam. Raja is lodged in Tihar jail which also had DMK supremo Karunanidh's daughter Kanimozhi, a Rajya Sabha MP, among the prison inmates for their alleged involvement. Read on

3: 00 pm: Telangana braces for two-day rail blockade

After a two-day shutdown, Telangana is now bracing for a two-day rail blockade which threatens to seriously disrupt rail links between south and north India.

The rail disruption is feared as the Telangana Joint Action Committee will block train traffic Friday and Saturday to demand the central government initiate the process for a separate state of Telangana.

The movement of trains across the region, comprising 10 districts including Hyderabad, may come to a halt. More

2: 30 pm: Paternity row: court slams N.D. Tiwari

The Delhi High Court slammed veteran Congress leader N.D. Tiwari for flouting its order and not giving blood samples as evidence in the paternity suit filed by a 31-year-old man claiming to be his biological son.

'How can Tiwari flout the court's order even after he was directed to give his blood sample?' Justice Gita Mittal asked Tiwari's counsel. Read more

2: 15 pm: Mamata plans Tagore songs at traffic signals

Kolkata is all set to get a makeover, thanks to the Mamata Banerjee government. As part of giving the city a 'London type look', the West Bengal government has announced plans to play Rabindranath Tagore's songs at traffic signals.

The decision is drawing praise from singers and intellectuals but snide remarks from the main opposition Left Front.

The government last weekend decided to begin a pilot project at two major intersections near the state secretariat Writers' Building and the state assembly, before extending it to some other heritage areas. More

1: 45 pm: Dayanidhi Maran resigns

Dayanidhi Maran quits as Union Cabinet Minister. He visited the Prime Minister at 7 RCR and submitted his resignation. Speculations have already begun on who will replace him. TR Baalu is right now emerging as the top contender. More

1: 30 pm: Mulayam Singh, Azharuddin detained in UP

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Congress MP Mohammad Azharuddin were today detained by Uttar Pradesh police while they were on their way to a violence-hit village in Moradabad where restrictions are in force.

While Yadav was detained on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh by Ghaziabad police, Azharuddin, the Moradabad MP, was picked up by police in Moradabad when he was proceeding towards Asatalpur village where an irate mob indulged in arson and brick-batting, injuring a Deputy Inspector General yesterday. More

1: 00 pm: CBI to supply Radia's tele talk transcripts to 2G case accused

The CBI today told a Delhi court that it will supply to the 2G scam case accused the transcripts of tapped telephonic talk of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia with various people. "We will supply Niira Radia's tape by July 12," CBI prosecutor A K Singh told Special CBI Judge O P Saini.

The agency told the court that it will also be supplying some additional documents to the accused on July 12. More

12: 30 pm: Sun TV tumbles by 8 pc in morning trade on bourses

Maran family-owned broadcasting firm Sun TV tumbled by as much as 8 per cent in early trade on the bourses today after reports that the CBI is likely to question former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran in connection with the 2G spectrum case.

The stock opened at Rs 330, then declined further to a low of Rs 307.05, down 7.80 per cent vis-a-vis its previous close on the BSE.

A similar trend was seen on the National Stock Exchange, where after opening at Rs 310, the stock lost further ground and sunk to a low of Rs 305, down 8.50 per cent from its last close. More

12: 00 pm: He kidnapped a 5-yr-old to fund his business
With the arrest of Milind Godi, west district police has worked out a sensational daylight kidnapping of a school-going child Ram Arora, aged 5 years. The accused belongs to a very high profile business family from Rohtak and owns an auto component manufacturing unit. According to the police investigation Milind needed money to pay off his debts and make good the losses that occurred in his business. More on this on Mid-Day

11: 30 am: Ilyas Kashmiri was killed in US drone attack in Pakistan last month: CBS News

A US news channel has confirmed that Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri, commander-in-chief of Harakat-ul Jihad-i-Islami (HuJI), was killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan last month.
"CBS News has learned that a US drone strike in Pakistan in June killed senior al Qaeda commander Ilyas Kashmiri," its website said in a news report.

Kashmiri was believed to be a key planner of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and, according to sources, was also involved in planning terror strikes in Europe last fall, which led to alerts across the continent. More

11: 00 am: Lokpal: Third draft emerging as civil society debate opens up

The current debate on the Lokpal Bill is split along two lines: the UPA's draft and that of Team Anna Hazare. But now, not just the political establishment, other sections of "civil society" are standing up to call for a wider debate and cautioning against a rush to push any version through.

So while the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council may have made it clear that it wouldn't discuss the Lokpal Bill, the National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) — whose membership overlaps with that of the NAC — has indicated that it's working on its own draft of an anti-corruption law. Full story on Indian Express

10: 30 am : Indian-American part of team to flag questions for Obama

Indian-American professor Raman Chadha was among the eight-member team which helped flag questions for US President Barack Obama, as he held the first ever Twitter town hall at the White House.

During the period when Obama held the Twitter Town Hall at the White House yesterday, Chadha along with seven others was busy rewetting interesting questions and flagging them for the US President. More

10: 00 am: Pakistan turns 'new front line' of war on terror

Pakistan is now the new front in the war on terror as it has become a new safe haven for al-Qaeda, says the Canadian media a day after the country blacklisted the Pakistani Taliban and started withdrawal from Afghanistan Tuesday.

'The war on terror has shifted, and Pakistan is its new front line,' said the daily National Post. More

9: 30 am: Rain mars opening day's play after India's early strikes

Indian bowlers dominated a rain-truncated opening day, landing early blows to leave West Indies at a precarious 75 for three in their first innings in the third and final cricket Test here.

Sent into bat, the hosts were struggling in the 31.1 overs of play that was possible when the heavens opened up shortly after the lunch break, and it stayed that way till the day''s play was finally called off at 4.15 pm local time yesterday.

Darren Bravo was batting on 22 while Shivnarine Chanderpaul was unbeaten on 17, with the two adding 40 runs for the fourth wicket in 14.2 overs. More

9: 02 am: Breach in Rahul's security
Police detain a  man with a gun near Rahul Gandhi's padyatra route in Tappal. He was carrying a licensed pistol. According to reports, the man's name is Hari and is believed to be from Udaipur. More

9: 00 am: Maran bullied Aircel into selling out: CBI

In a setback to Union textiles minister Dayanidhi Maran just ahead of a likely Cabinet reshuffle, CBI told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that a prima facie case is made out against him for having allegedly misused his position as the telecom minister to force Sivasankaran — promoter of mobile phone company Aircel — to sell out to Malaysian telecom firm Maxis.  More on The Times of India

8: 30 am: Athletes know they are on dope, says Saina Nehwal

In a stunning twist to the raging dope scandal, India's badminton ace Saina Nehwal said on Wednesday that many top athletes and weightlifters knowingly took banned substances. Nehwal's comments are in stark contrast to sports minister Ajay Maken's argument on Tuesday that the eight tainted athletes were unknowingly given performance boosters.

"I know many athletes and weightlifters who themselves tell me that 'we take it'," Nehwal said. "It's sad that so many of the CWG and Asian Games medal winners tested positive, but I'm not totally surprised," she said. Read more on Hindustan Times

8: 15 am: Powerful quake off New Zealand triggers tsunami

A powerful magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off New Zealand's Kermadec Islands, triggering a tsunami in the region, the US Geological Survey and the US Pacific Tsunami Center said on Wednesday.

The quake, initially reported as a magnitude 7.9, triggered a tsunami warning for New Zealand, the Kermadec Islands and Tonga, the US Pacific Tsunami Center said. CNN IBN has more

8: 00 am: 33 killed, 17 injured as train rams into a bus in UP

At least 33 people were killed and 17 injured when a train rammed into a bus at an unmanned crossing in Etah in Uttar Pradesh in the wee hours today.
33 people were killed and 17 injured in the mishap. The ill-fated bus was carrying a marriage party, railway sources said. More