Blast outside Af top court kills 17

Blast outside Af top court kills 17 Kabul: A suicide car bomber on Tuesday rammed a bus packed with staff of Afghanistan’s top court, killing 17 and wounding 39 in the second attack in two days in the heavily fortified capital, police said.     The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it had punished judges for “justifying the invading infidels” in sentencing to death Taliban prisoners held by the Afghan government.     All those injured or killed in the powerful explosion outside the supreme court and near the US embassy were civilians and included women and children, officials said.      General Mohammad Zahir, head of Kabul criminal investigations, said the bomber rammed a bus carrying supreme court staff. Officials said it happened at around 4pm, the end of the working day in Afghanistan.      “A suicide bomb hit at the back of a Coaster causing lots of civilian casualties, dead and wounded,” Zahir said. AGENCIES

Shukla dies 17 days after Maoist attack

Shukla dies 17 days after Maoist attack TIMES NEWS NETWORK  New Delhi: Former Union minister and veteran Congress leader Vidya Charan Shukla died on Tuesday in a Gurgaon hospital after losing a 17-day battle against debilitating bullet wounds inflicted during a Maoist ambush on a Congress convoy deep in the jungles of Bastar. The 84-year-old leader, who succumbed to multiple organ failure at 2.38pm, is the seniormost politician to be assassinated by the Maoists till date. He is survived by his wife and three daughters.     His body was brought to AIIMS for postmortem before being flown to Raipur for the last rites. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi drove to AIIMS to pay their respects to Shukla. The BJP-led Chhattisgarh government has declared a three-day mourning.      Shukla, as a close aide and a Cabinet colleague of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was part of the Congress brass which enforced the Emergency from 1975 to 1977.

CBI books ex-mantri Dasari, Cong MP Jindal in Coalgate

CBI books ex-mantri Dasari, Cong MP Jindal in Coalgate In Quid Pro Quo Deal Jindal Put 2.48Cr In Dasari’s Film Co TIMES NEWS NETWORK  New Delhi/Hyderabad: The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday filed an FIR in the Coalgate case in which industrialist and Congress MP Naveen Jindal and former minister of state for coal Dasari Narayan Rao have been named. The CBI has alleged that Dasari was paid kickbacks for favouring coal block allocation to the Jindal firm.      Besides Jindal and Rao, the CBI has also booked companies Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL), Gagan Sponge Iron Limited, Jindal's companies--Jindal Realty and ND Exim and Dasari's company Sowbhagya Media Ltd. Apart from them, unknown members of screening committee, which cleared the allocation, and unknown directors of accused private companies also figure in the FIR. CBI sources said H C Gupta, the then coal secretary, is among those under investigation. After registering the FIR, CBI sources said the agency on Tuesday carried out searches at 15 locations including residence and offices of Jindal in Delhi and that of Dasari in Hyderabad. Dasari was Union minister of state for coal between 2004-08.     CBI director Ranjit Sinha told TOI that ex-minister Rao is being probed in another Coalgate case too. The agency is also looking at the allocation of at least four more coal blocks to Jindal’s companies when Rao was in the ministry, another CBI official said. They said Naveen Jindal’s questioning was imminent. “We will call Rao soon but Naveen Jindal would be called later when he comes back from London,” said a senior CBI officer.     In its FIR, the CBI said there was a quid pro quo arrangement between Dasari and the Jindal companies. In return for Dasari doling out 7 coal mines for the Jindal Steel and Power Ltd company, the latter invested Rs 2.48 crore in the film production company of the coal minister, it said.     It is the CBI’s case that Sowbhagya Media Limited, Dasari’s film production and distribution company, received funds from New Delhi Exim Pvt Ltd, Jindal’s company, on December 8, 2008. When Sowbhagya was selling for Rs 30 per share at the bourses, New Delhi Exim purchased the same at Rs 100 per share, that too in preferential manner. Jindal’s investment in Dasari’s company was in return for the favour that the coal minister doled out between June and October that same year by allocating coal blocks at Amarkonda Murgadangal in Birbhum, Jharkhand, Gare Palma IV (Chhattisgarh), Jitpur (Jharkhand), Ramchandi (Orissa) and Urtan North (Madhya Pradesh) in favour of Jindal Steel and Power Company Ltd.  PIT FALL     Raids at 15 locations including residence and offices of Jindal and Dasari in Delhi and Hyderabad     In return for Dasari doling out 7 coal mines for Jindal Steel, the latter invested 2.48 crore in Dasari’s film production company Sowbhagya Media     Jindal’s co New Delhi Exim bought 2 lakh shares of Sowbhagya at 100 when its market value was only 30

Organisers unsure of holding fish medicine event next year

Organisers unsure of holding fish medicine event next year Curtain Falls On Two-Day Event, Turnout Pegged At Over 2 Lakh TIMES NEWS NETWORK  Hyderabad: The two-day fish prasadam event, that draws thousands of asthma patients looking for a miracle cure by devouring live fingerlings, came to a close on Sunday. However, organisers said they were unsure of hosting it again next year.     The Bathini family’s dilemma stems from the umpteen hurdles they faced this year and the fact that the government seems to be in no mood to support them next year. They were first made to run from pillar to post to get a venue and were later dealt a blow when the Lokayukta criticized the government’s support saying the ‘fish medicine’ has not been scientifically proven. The Lokayukta relented for this year after it was informed that people had already turned up for the medicine.     Even as the High Court has stayed the Lokayukta order for this year, the Bathini family, which discovered the ‘cure’ several decades ago, is a worried lot. “We are hoping the government will support us in the future too. If not, it would be very difficult for us to provide this service on our own,” said Harinath Goud, a senior member of the family. “We do this service for free and we are very weak financially. How can we foot the bill for the arrangements and the venue?” he asked.     However, notwithstanding the legal tangles and the stampede that occurred last year, thousands of people from across the country turned up for the distribution this year. "Till I landed here, I did not know there was any controversy. For me and many others from outside the state, such things do not matter as we will come here for the medicine anyway. We believe that this medicine will cure asthma," said Surinder Singh from Delhi, who was here last year also.     The fisheries department said the turnout was more than last year, with 40,765 fingerlings supplied as compared to around 38,000 last year. “Apart from the fingerlings supplied by the fisheries department, there were a few private vendors who sold it at the venue,” Harinath said. This apart, many vegetarians opted for the medicine stuck into jaggery. “We had prepared the medicine for 3 lakh people and it is almost over,” said a Bathini family member. Others pegged the turnout at more than 2 lakh.     The medicine was administered by the Bathini brothers on the occasion of ‘Mrigasira Karthi’ from 1 pm on Saturday to 1 pm on Sunday. However the crowds swelled mainly in the early hours of Sunday as the rains lashed the city on Saturday evening. After the curtains fell at the Nampally event, the service was provided at the ancestral home of the Bathini family in Doodhbowli.     "This medicine cured me of the asthma. I had come even last year but it was utter chaos. I hope they conduct it at Exhibition Grounds in the future too since any other place would cause great inconvenience to the public,” Mahesh Kumar from Warangal.

Gunman on rampage in US, 6 dead

Gunman on rampage in US, 6 dead Washington: At least six people were killed as a gunman went on a rampage in southern California, before being shot down by the police at a college library, some three miles away from where US President Barack Obama was attending a fundraiser.     According to Santa Monica police chief Jacqueline Seabrooks, the gunman was 25 to 30 years old and dressed all in black, wearing what appeared to be a ballistic jacket. Another person of interest is said to be in police custody.     “We are not convinced 100% that the suspect who was killed operated in a solo or alone capacity,” Seabrooks said at a hurriedly convened news conference.     It was not immediately clear where all the deceased victims were killed. In all six people — all women — were taken to two hospitals, including two in critical condition, one of whom died, local media reported.     Seabrooks said there were at least six incidents across the city ending in the Santa Monica College.     A witness said she heard a noise, realized it was a gunshot, then took off running. Then, in a hallway, she saw a dark-haired man whom she initially mistook for a police officer but later realized was the shooter. The man was quiet and walking casually. “(He had) a big shotgun,” the woman said. PTI