Malappuram accident ; Death has increased to eight.
The death toll in the accident involving a bus and an autorickshaw here has increased to eight. The deceased were coming back after attending a marriage function. Irate public burned the bus and the situation is said to be volatile with politicians and police being turned away from the scene by the local public.  

Ice cream parlour case.; High Court dismissed petition by V S
Kerala High Court on Friday dismissed a petition by Opposition leader in the Kerala Assembly V S Achuthanandan seeking CBI investigation into the alleged sabotage of probe in the ice cream parlour sex scandal case. 'Will move SC' Meanwhile, Achuthanandan said that he will move Supreme Court to seek CBI probe into the case. The CPM veteran had approached the HC seeking CBI probe into a case registered on the basis of claims by a relative of state minister P K...

Solar; High court refuses to spare sitting judge
The Kerala High court has informed the state government that it cannot spare a sitting judge to conduct probe into the solar scam that brought Chief Minister Oommen Chandy's office under a cloud and rocked the UDF government for the past two months. The decision in this regard taken by a five-member administrative committee of the court, chaired by Chief Justice Manjula Chellur, was on Friday conveyed to the State Chief Secretary E K Bharath Bhushan, CM's office sources...

Corruption has destroyed the dignity of the Prime Minister's post - Modi
Continuing his criticism against the Congress-led UPA government, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Monday said that corruption has destroyed the dignity of the Prime Minister's post. "Widespread corruption has destroyed the dignity of the Prime Minister's post since people below him have begun indulging in more corruption," Modi said, at a function in Modasa, organised to felicitate him for carving out Aravalli as a separate district from Sabarkantha district on...

KSRTC has stopped services on many routes
The KSRTC has stopped services on many routes as lack of maintenance and non-availability of spares have made many buses inoperable. The corporation has cancelled about 150 services in northern Kerala recently. Lack of  essential spare parts and key personnel to manage services has led to the situation. Even though KSRTC faced a similar issue last year too, this year, the situation has become worse. While 31 services have been stopped in Kozhikode, Palakkad has lost 11...

Magistrate wants to recuse himself from hearing the Solar case.
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, M V Raju, wants to recuse himself from hearing the Solar case. Raju, who had earlier heard a statement from Saritha in the case, said that he would like the case to be transferred from him since he was not interested in it. Raju has applied to the Chief Judicial Magistrate in this regard. However, the court said that it would consider the request only after the chargesheet is issued in the case. Raju was recently in the news for all the wrong...

Court has denied bail for Madani
The Karnataka High Court has denied bail for PDP Chairman Abdul Nassar Madani, who had sought bail for meeting his medical needs. Madani had approached the court for bail to get himself treated using his own money. The court said that it did not have the right to issue the bail and said that Madani could approach the Supreme Court if he wanted the bail. This is the fifth time that the High Court is denying bail for Madani. Earlier, public prosecutor Dorairaju had submitted a report...

Rupee again breached the 65-mark.
The BSE benchmark sensex tanked over 400 points on Monday after three sessions of gains as rupee again breached the 65-mark. The 30-share index lost 221.29 points, or 1.19 per cent, in early trade with banking, realty, metal PSUs and oil and gas sector stocks leading the fall. It later fell further and was down over 450 points at 11.30am.  

Biju and Saritha had conversed with each other over phone
There are allegations that solar case accused Biju Radhakrishnan and Saritha Nair had conversed with each other over phone. It is believed that the two talked over phone at Edakkad police station limits when they were being taken back from the Thalassery sessions court. It has been alleged that  investigating officer DySP K Sudarsan had allowed them to use his phone. However, the DySP said that all he did was to allow the two to call their lawyers as per the directions of...

Road construction and development is lagging in Kerala -Parliamentary committee
According to the permanent parliamentary committee on transport and tourism, compared to other states, road construction and development is lagging in Kerala by a decade. The committee also went on to say that the state government was not sincere in the upkeep of roads in the state and added that the public cannot be blamed for not paying tolls. The report is to be tabled in the parliament on Tuesday. The report says that while the central government was providing paltry sums for...

Madani has got health issues
Karnataka state Jail authorities stated that Abdul Nazar Madani has got health issues .But he is not cooperating for expert medical assistance. Multi Specialty treatments can not be given.In jail he is being given medical facilities; stated the authorities.

Mumbai gang rape ; All the five accused in the case have been arrested
Three days after a young photojournalist was gang-raped in a mill here, all the five accused in the case have been arrested even as Mumbai Police was grappling to trace the mobile phone used to shoot pictures of the crime that triggered outrage across the country. Mohammed Kasim Hafiz Shaikh alias Kasim Bengali, a resident of Agripada in central Mumbai, was arrested at 4.15am from Mumbai Central while his accomplice Siraj Rehman Khan (24) was arrested last night. Both were remanded in...

Bachchan angry with fake video that shows him endorsing Modi
In the video, Bachchan's voice, which he had lent for a newspaper-led campaign in the past, is used to create the impression that he endorses Narendra Modi as India's next prime minister. Actor Amitabh Bachchan is reportedly furious. The reason? An allegedly fake video that is going around the web. In the video Bachchan's voice, which he had lent for a newspaper-led campaign in the past, is used to create the impression that he endorses Narendra Modi as India's next...

Sensex rebounds 407 points despite new low for rupee
Ignoring the rupee's further descent to a fresh record low, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex on Thursday gained for the first time in five days surging 407 points on the back of metal shares, which got a boost from encouraging data from China. The 30-share Sensex opened at 17,896.84, lower than the previous close of 17,905.91, and dropped to a low of 17,759.59. Value buying saw the index recover and touch the day's high of 18,349.82 before it closed at 18,312.94, a gain of...

Pakistani soldier was killed on Indian fire
The Pakistani army said one of  its soldiers was killed on Thursday in "unprovoked" Indian fire  along the border dividing the disputed territory of Kashmir, in  the second such incident within two days. A series of clashes that began this month has undermined a  push by Pakistan's new civilian government to improve ties with  old rival India, although Pakistani officials say they are still  hoping to hold talks.A...

Solar Scam ;Original statement of Saritha was manipulated.
BJP State General Secretary, K Surendran, has said that the original statement of Saritha S Nair, one of the main accused in the solar scam, was manipulated. Surendran, who said that he was speaking on the basis of an RTI reply given by the Pathanamthitta Jail Superintendent, said that Saritha had given her lawyer a 21-page document while she was in jail. The reply from the Superintendent also said that a copy of the statement was not preserved by the jail...

Court issued non-bailable warrants against four Indian bookies
A Delhi court today issued non-bailable warrants against four Indian bookies and three aides of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim in the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing case. The seven are named as accused in the Delhi Police's chargesheet in the case. The arrest warrants were issued against Dubai-based Javed Chuttani and Pakistan-based Salman and Aitesham, all three of whom are said to be Dawood's associates.     Apart from the warrants, the court...

Indian rupee tumbled to an all-time low of 64.45
Continuing its downslide, the Indian rupee tumbled to an all-time low of 64.45 against the dollar in late afternoon trade on Wednesday. The slide was triggered by sustained dollar demand from banks and importers on the back of a strengthening US currency overseas, coupled with a sharp fall in local stocks. The rupee resumed lower at 63.45 per dollar as against yesterday’s closing level of 63.25 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange Market and dropped further to hit a...

LDF's letter will be handed over to the government
Sources indicate that the letter from LDF, containing the terms of reference for judicial inquiry, does not mention any names of ministers. The letter would demand the inquiry by keeping Chief Minister Oommen Chandy at the focus of investigations. The Left has claimed that they have strong evidence against the CM and his office. The letter, which will be  presented in the CPM state secretariat and then transferred to the home department, asks for legislations to avoid...

CM's office may also be included within the ambit of judicial inquiry.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said that his office may also be included within the ambit of judicial inquiry. The terms of reference will disclose more facts, he said. The government has an open-minded approach in this matter. In case the Left was hesitant to have a direct conversation with him, the government could assign a new person for the job, he added. Meanwhile sources have indicated that the letter from LDF, containing the terms of reference for judicial inquiry, has not...

Sheela murder case ; High Court cancelled the death sentence awarded to Kanakaraj
The Kerala High Court Tuesday cancelled the death sentence awarded to Kanakaraj, the second accused in the Puthur Sheela murder case. The apex court of the state has commuted the capital punishment to life imprisonment and upheld the trial court's decision to acquit Manikandan, the third accused in the case. Sheela Jayakrishnan was stabbed to death on March 23, 2010, at her house at Puthur, near Palakkad. Later, Karthiyayani Amma,Sheela's mother, identified the three accused,...

Mangalya Nidhi ; Mani had announced setting up of the fund in his budget speech
The government scheme, Mangalya Nidhi, for the marriage of girls in poverty stricken families, has become a headache for the poor. Finance Minister K M Mani had announced setting up of the fund in his budget speech. As per the budget instructions, those who conduct luxurious marriages have to contribute not less than 3 per cent of the expense to the fund. However, the order issued by the office of the Deputy Commissioner of commercial tax, extracts the charge from those who organise low...

ADGP Hemachandran is only overseeing the solar case probe
The government has informed the High Court that ADGP Hemachandran is only overseeing the solar scandal case probe. The Advocate General also informed the HC that the DySPs in each cases are the responsible officials in the investigation process. The clarification from the government came after the HC raised a few questions regarding the responsibilities of the state in the probe while considering the bail pleas of Tenny Joppan and Shalu Menon, the accused in the case. Meanwhile,...

Modi attacked the government for the free fall of rupee against the US dollar
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today attacked the government for the free fall of rupee against the US dollar, attacking the Centre for "saving its chair" and not the economy. "The country is disappointed today because the government is neither concerned about the economy nor the falling rupee. It is only worried about saving its chair," Mr Modi said. The rupee continued its slide and slumped to a record low today, breaching the 64-mark against...

Court criticised the Vithura sex scandal victim
The Special Court on Monday criticised the Vithura sex scandal victim for making unreasonable excuses for delaying the commencement of the trial in the case. While considering the plea of the victim who sought a month’s time to turn up before the court, Justice S Shajahan observed that the court, counsels and the prosecution could not waste their time unnecessarily. While the trial in the case was to commence on Monday, the victim’s counsel S Aheez produced a medical certificate...

Arjuna Award Tom Joseph ; Expected to take decision today
The high level meeting by Sports Minister Jithendra Singh on Monday is expected to take decision about presenting Arjuna Award to volley ball player Tom Joseph. The meeting is likely to take a  favourable stance towards Tom. The Sports Ministry has decided to reconsider the decision when it became a controversy. The Ministry denied the award to Tom after he was in consideration nine times. Jiji Thomson, SAI Director and award committee member,  P K Deb,...

LDF will convene a meeting to discuss about solar case
LDF will convene a meeting on Monday to discuss about further procedures to be taken in solar case,  at  5 pm at AKG centere here . 'Terms of reference' of the solar scam judicial probe will be the main agenda of the meeting. Besides, it will discuss about CPM 's consent for V S Achuthanandan to take legal action in solar case. All LDF allies had assessed the Secretariat siege as a success. Today's meeting may also follow the same. At the...

Heavy rains and flooding have killed 110 people in Pakistan
Heavy rains and flooding have killed at least 110 people and affected over three lakh in many parts of Pakistan, the country's disaster management authority said today. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visited the flood-hit areas in Sialkot district over the weekend and directed the Punjab government to take every step possible to help the victims. He also directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) chairman to visit the worst-hit areas and provide emergency relief to...

Rupee dropped to a record low of 62.45 per dollar
The rupee dropped to a record low of 62.45 per dollar in late morning trade on Monday on persistent demand for the US currency from banks and importers coupled with capital outflows from foreign funds. A firm US currency in the overseas market also affected the rupee value against the dollar, a forex dealer said. The rupee resumed lower at 62.30 per dollar as against the last weekend’s level of 61.65 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) Market and dropped further to a new...

Train runs over 35 pilgrims in Bihar; Locals set coaches on fire
Thirty seven people, mostly women and children, were killed in Bihar this morning when an express train ploughed into pilgrims at a remote and poorly connected area in the state's Khagaria district, around 160 km from Patna. The incident at 8:40 am triggered mayhem at the Dhamara Ghat Station, as a violent mob reportedly assaulted the train driver, set trains on fire, vandalized the station and held railway staff hostage. Bodies lay on rail tracks for hours as the violence made...