Dr Manmohan Singh, appeals for peace after Ayodhya verdict

Sep,29, Prime Minister Manmohan Tuesday urged the people to maintain peace and harmony after the Allahabad High Court delivers its verdict Thursday in the 61-year-old Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute in Ayodhya.“Whatever be the nature of judgment, I think everyone should make every effort to maintain peace, harmony and tranquility in the country,” Manmohan Singh told reporters on the sidelines of a book release function here Tuesday.He recalled that the appeal for peace had been mentioned in the resolution adopted by the union cabinet Sep 16.Earlier in the day, a three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia dismissed a petition to defer the high court judgment to facilitate attempts for an out-of-court settlement.The judgment by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court was earlier scheduled for Sep 24 but the apex court deferred it Sep 23.Last week, Home Minister P. Chidmabaram had also appealed for peace after the verdict.Both Manmohan Singh and Chidmabaram had pointed out that the high court judgment may not be the final word in the dispute as one could appeal in the apex court.The suit relates to a disputed site in Ayodhya, which Hindu groups claim to be the birthplace of Lord Ram. On Dec 6, 1992, radical Hindu activists destroyed the Babri Masjid, alleging it was built in 1528 after razing a temple there.The demolition had triggered one of the worst communal riots, resulting in the death of 2,000 people in different states.
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Maintain peace after Ayodhya verdict, urges Sonia

Sep,29, Congress president and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi Wednesday asked the people to maintain peace and communal brotherhood “at any cost” after the court verdict on the “sensitive” Ayodhya dispute.“I request you to accept whatever the court’s decision will be and keeping faith in the Indian judiciary maintain peace, mutual respect and brotherhood at any cost. Emotional unity is the greatest strength of India,” Gandhi said in her appeal written in Hindi.The appeal comes after the Supreme Court Tuesday paved the way for the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute verdict to be delivered by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court Thursday.“We all know that the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court will deliver its judgment on a very sensitive issue tomorrow (Thursday). We also know that we, after expressing our faith in the fairness of our judiciary, have agreed to accept the court decision, whatever it may be,” the UPA chairperson said.“This is a matter of pride for our judiciary and is also a reflection of our tolerant society,” she added.
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Apex court’s Ayodhya order welcomed by Hindus, Muslims

The Supreme Court’s decision to clear the decks for pronouncing the verdict on the decades-old Ayodhya litigation has been welcomed by all quarters – both Hindus and Muslims – here.Vinay Katiyar, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vice president, who is also a former BJP MP from Faizabad – Ayodhya, hailed the verdict. “It is such a big relief that the country’s highest court has turned down the plea for deferment of the verdict, which was only a conspiracy to put the issue in cold storage,” he told reporters.
Babri Masjid Action Committee (BMAC) convenor and All India Muslim Personal Law Board member Zafaryab Jilani echoed the sentiment. “There is no doubt that some people were only interested in letting the issue linger on for several more years; but we are grateful to the honourable Supreme Court of India, which has scuttled their designs. I am sure this will make everyone happy,” Jilani told IANS over telephone from New Delhi.Ramjanmabhoomi Trust chief Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, who is regarded as the most respected sadhu of Ayodhya, too welcomed the apex court decision, which he felt “was clearly in the larger interest of the nation”. According to him, “haven’t we already waited long enough; remember justice delayed is justice denied”.Maulana Khalid Rasheed, the Naib Imam of Lucknow’s Eidgah and head of the city’s oldest Islamic seminary Firangi Mahal, as well as saffron-clad Swami Ram Vilas Vedanti, an aggressive member of the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust, too welcomed the order with equal enthusiasm. “Whatever be the final court verdict, at least it is going to be open at long last,” was the common refrain of both.It was significant that both religious as well as political leaders on the two sides were particular about appealing to the masses to “maintain peace and harmony irrespective of which side the scales tilt”.The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court is to pronounce the verdict in the Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi land dispute on Sep 30.This follows the Supreme Court’s rejection of a plea to postpone the verdict for a period of three months to enable rival sides to work out an out-of-court amicable settlement.
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High court rejects Kasab plea to meet lawyers in isolation

The Bombay High Court Wednesday rejected a plea of Pakistani terrorist Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab for permission to consult his lawyers in isolation in the Arthur Road Central Jail premises.A division bench of the court comprising Justice Ranjana Desai and Justice V.K. Tahilramani cited grounds of security and safety of the lawyers and security personnel while declining permission, Kasab’s lawyer Farhana Shah said.“We have all options open before us. We plan to challenge this ruling in the Supreme Court soon,” Shah told emerging from the courtroom Wednesday afternoon.Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, opposing the application, Tuesday submitted to the high court a CD of an attack on a jail security personnel by Kasab in the high-security prison Sep 1.Shah had moved an application recently seeking directions to debar jail authorities from being present within earshot in the room where she discussed legal issues with Kasab.Citing the attack as a serious issue, Nikam said it was impossible for police or jail authorities to permit the Pakistani terrorist to meet his lawyers in isolation, without the presence of security officials.He had also expressed apprehension that Kasab may attack his lawyer and hence he should be allowed to discuss issues with the lawyer only in the presence of security and jail personnel.On her part, the government-appointed Shah made a strong plea, and said Kasab felt uncomfortable discussing details of his case in front of security and jail personnel.Shah also said she had no objections to the presence of security personnel as long as they remained at a distance where they could not hear her discussion with Kasab.On May 3, Special Judge M.L. Tahaliyani held Kasab guilty on five counts in the killing of 166 people during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.
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Funds for Tribal hostels will be released : Andhra Pradesh CM

Hyderabad, Sep 29: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah today agreed to release funds for the improvement of tribal welfare hostels and other schemes taken up by the department.He said all Tribal Welfare institutions in the state would be renovated. Emphasis would be given to tribal welfare schools and hostels. He asked the finance department to give priority to the requirements of the Tribal Welfare Department.The Chief Minister today reviewed the functioning and various other issues pertaining to the Tribal Welfare Department with minister and officials. Dr Rosaiah also agreed to fill up the vacancies in the ITDAs and the Tribal Welfare Department on a priority basis. The Chief Minister was informed that a workshop was held in ITDA and Bhadrachalam recently to identify the gaps and interventions required for improving literacy in tribal areas. A comprehensive plan was being prepared. Meanwhile, support was sought for Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) scheme at State Level Planning and Monitoring Unit (SPMU) on tribal education in the office of the Commissioner, Tribal Welfare. There are 1313 tribal welfare institutions with a total strength of 2,98,600 students. During 2010-11, the strength was fixed for all Tribal Welfare institutions as per existing infrastructure available. Admission to Tribal Welfare hostels during 2010-11 were being done as per a GO. In Andhra Pradesh, Tribal Welfare Residential Educational Institutions (APTWREIs) admissions are completed as per Right To Education Act.The arrears of Post Metric scholarships has been released to the districts. During the year 2010-11, Rs 1540 lakhs provided for pre metric scholarships. Under the Tribal Welfare-NREGS convergence, 4.67 lakh acres of land was distributed to 1.65 lakh families as individual pattas under the RoFR Act, 2006. A comprehensive and systematic planning was being taken up to start land development, minor irrigation development, horticulture and plantation development.The Plan would be implemented in 2010-11 and 2011-12. The Chief Minister was informed that 25 per cent of the royalty amount collected from mining leases in tribal areas were to be spent for the welfare of tribals. The Chief Minister asked the finance department to allocate funds under the scheme to the Tribal Welfare Department.Tribal Welfare Minister P Balaraju, Adviser to CM, P K Agarwal, Special Chief Secretary, Tribal Welfare, A K Tigdi, Commissioner, Tribal Welfare, Shanthi Kumari, Principal Secretary, Finance, L V Subramaniam and other officials attended the meeting, a press release from CMO here said.
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Piped cooking gas for GHMC consumers

Hyderabad, Sep 29 : Petroleum, Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), Chairman, Mr L. Man Singh today assured Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah that piped cooking gas will be supplied to the people of GHMC area in two months time.

The Chief Minister thanked Mr Man Singh and his officials for all the support extended to Andhra Pradesh in honouring the requests.PNGRB has been extending full support to Andhra Pradesh to develop an Integrated Gas Grid. The PNGRB has accepted the state's proposal for treating a district as a unit for gas distribution in the city.The Chief Minister expressed happiness that PNGRB had recently notified four districts--Ranga Reddy, Medak, Nalgonda and Khammam for bidding to develop city gas distribution network. Already, the distribution for Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Kakinada and Rajahmundry has been awarded and work was in progress. The APGIC would submit bid documents for four districts, which were recently notified.Dr Rosaiah said the Andhra Pradesh Gas Infrastructure Corporation(APGIC) has requested PNGRB to take up a trunk line between Kakinda and Kolkata so that the distribution network can be laid in the districts of Visakhapatnam, Vijayanagaram and Srikakulam as the Kakinada-Kolkata trunk line had not been taken up so far. He said the APGIC will be approaching PNGRB for city gas distribution network for the remaining districts in the state, starting from West Godavari, Krishna, Warangal, Karimnagar, Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam, Vijayanagaram and East Godavari. The Gas Distribution in the districts south of Krishna river was also being planned by the state. Soon, Expression of Interest will be filed with the PNGRB.
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Satyam Computer fraud now estimated at USD 1.75 billion

Hyderabad, Sep 29 : Financial irregularities perpetrated by the original promoters of Satyam Computer Services led by B. Ramalinga Raju resulted in a Rs.78.55 billion (USD 1.75 billion) impact on the company's accounts, the stock exchanges were informed Wednesday.Presenting the consolidated financial results of the company, now renamed Mahindra Satyam, the new management said an impact of Rs.67.95 billion (USD 1.5 billion) was on account of what it said was based on specific financial irregularities identified during forensic investigations. "The fictitious revenue was recorded by creation of false invoices by circumventing the normal revenue recognition cycle," said the filing signed by Chairman Vineet Nayyar on behalf of the new board of the company.The irregularities covered various heads including revenue, interest income, exchange fluctuations, salary costs, other expenses, bank borrowings and interest, as also tax payments, as per the report presented to the stock exchanges.Once the poster boy of Indian information technology industry, Raju had stunned the corporate world in January last year when he admitted to financial irregularities worth Rs.70 billion (USD 1.5 billion) over the past several years in the largest corporate fraud in the country's history.
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Isolated rain in Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rayalaseema

Hyderabad, Sept 29 : Isolated rain or thundershowers may occur over Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Rayalaseema over next 48 hours.Outlook for subsequent two days was no large change was expected, the Met Office here said.The sky would be generally cloudy for Hyderabad and neighbourhood. Thunderclouds may develop towards evening over next two days.Maximum and minimum temperatures would be around 33 and 23 Degree Celsius.Observations recorded till 0830 hours said isolated rain occurred over Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Rayalaseema.The chief amounts of rainfall recorded in cm are Gudivada 4, Bhimavaram and Polavaram, Koida, Parvathipuram 3 each.
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Virtusa gets Technology Center in Hyderabad

Hyderabad, Sept 29 : Virtusa Corporation (NASDAQ: VRTU), a global IT services company, on Wednesday announced the inauguration of its new state-of-the-art Advanced Technology Center (ATC) in Nanakramguda, Gachibowli, Hyderabad, marking the expansion of its engineering excellence capabilities in India.Virtusa has invested approximately Rs. 75.30 crores in setting up the new center.The ATC, whose inauguration ceremony was graced by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K. Rosaiah is built on over 6 acres of land, and when fully built out would provide a 6000 seat capacity. Speaking at the inauguration, Kris Canekeratne, Virtusa's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "India is a key part of our global operations and we are proud of this milestone in our decade long association with Hyderabad in addition to our presence in Chennai. Our new Advanced Technology Center reflects our commitment to Virtusans in India who are part of our One Global Team focused on accelerating business outcomes and consumer experiences of our Fortune 1000 client base." The Hyderabad campus will provide diverse technology solutions and service global clients across many industries, including, banking, financial services, insurance, telecommunications, technology and healthcare.
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