New Delhi, Former telecommunications minister A Raja was on Tuesday granted bail in the 2G spectrum allocation case. He is the last of the 14 individuals charged in the case still in prison. The bail was granted by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special judge OP Saini. Raja has been in Tihar jail since February last year. Raja's counsel told reporters that the judge called Raja towards him and told him: "Your bail application is allowed." "The bail application is allowed," Special CBI Judge O P Saini said. The court granted bail to the DMK MP on a personal bond of Rs 20 lakh and two sureties of the like amount. The court while granting bail imposed conditions on Raja that he will not visit Tamil Nadu without its prior permission and will not go to the office of the Department of Telecom (DoT). The court, in its 14-page bail order, also said that Raja would not try to influence any witnesses while on bail. Raja was arrested on February 2, last year. The announcement triggered wild slogan shouting and cheering by his DMK supporters mainly from Tamil Nadu, who raised slogans in Tamil like: "Raja, vazhga!" (Long Live Raja!) Besides the 14 individuals, three ...
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Chennai, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Monday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh not to trust the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) on unwilling states. She also urged Manmohan Singh to convene a meeting of chief ministers to discuss the matter. In a letter to the prime minister, Jayalalithaa said: "I request the formation of NCTC may first be ordered to be held in abeyance and a meeting of chief ministers may be convened to discuss this matter. "The views of chief ministers will have to be given due consideration and a purposeful discussion on counter terrorism should be made possible. I request an early reply in this matter." Her demand follows a statement by the Home Secretary that the office memorandum on NCTC has not been withdrawn and is deemed to have come into effect on March 1. Expressing surprise at the central government convening a meeting of chief ministers April 16 to discuss internal security issues including NCTC, she said: "It is indeed unfortunate that, without taking into consideration the views and sentiments of chief ministers, the constitution of the NCTC is sought to be steamrolled into existence." States critical of ...
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Chennai, The residence of a former Tamil Nadu minister was raided on Thursday on corruption charges by vigilance officials, said authorities. DMK leader and former Tamil Nadu minister for food, civil supplies, consumer protection and price control AV Velu's house was raided by vigilance officials on Thursday on charges of accumulating assets disproportionate to his known source of income, the agency said. Velu is now a member of Tamil Nadu assembly from Thiruvannamalai constituency. In a statement issued here, the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption ( DVAC) said an enquiry found that Velu has accumulated in his name and in the name of his family members assets disproportionate to his known sources of income during the period from April 1, 2006 to March 31, 2010 to the tune of Rs 26,30,787. A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act was registered against Velu. The officials searched the houses of Velu's business premises and that of his relatives. Since the AIADMK came to power in May 2011, authorities have raided the residences of several former DMK ministers, including Parithi Illamvazhuthi, KP Samy, D Duraimurugan, KN Nehru, TM Anbarasan, K ...
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New Delhi, With Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa giving the nod for the Kudankulam nuclear power plants, Russia said that it was going to send its scientists to the site on Tuesday to start commissioning work for the first unit of the reactors. Russian officials in India said that Moscow stood vindicated by Jayalalithaa's decision to back the reactors that couldn't be commissioned last year because of sudden protests by locals. "If local authorities guarantee security, a team of Russian scientists will be sent to the plant on Tuesday itself to start the commissioning work," Russian embassy senior counselor Sergey Karmalito told TOI. The two pressurized water reactors being built by the state-owned Atomstroy Export at Kudankulam are 98% complete. "Despite not being allowed to access the site, more than 80 scientists have stayed put in India. We understand that a team of Indian officials visited the plant today and we are waiting for their report," he added. Karmalito said that there was never any doubt in the minds of Russian scientists about what decision the Tamil Nadu government was going to take. "We welcome the decision taken by the chief minister. The reactors at ...
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New Delhi, Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa was on Tuesday issued notice by the Supreme Court on a CBI appeal challenging the Madras high court verdict, which had quashed a case, registered against her for allegedly receiving an illegal remittance of US $3 lakh in 1992. While issuing notice to the Tamil Nadu CM, a bench of justices Altmas Kabir and S S Nijjar, however, refrained from staying the September 30, 2011 judgement of the Madras high court, delivered on a plea by Jayalalitha for quashing the FIR against her. The case of the CBI is that Jayalalithaa had received a remittance of three lakh US dollars in 1992 through a demand draft issued by banker's trust company in New York, drawn on ANZ Grindlays bank, St Helier Jersey. According to the CBI, the receipts of such a huge money was part of an illegal transaction, which was being probed. Jayalalithaa was the chief minister of the state at the time of the alleged offence. The high court had quashed the proceedings against Jayalalithaa on her plea that that there was an inordinate delay in the investigation and trial. The CBI, in its appeal, however, has defended the delay on the ground that the ...
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KOCHI/NEW DELHI, A case of murder was filed against armed guards of an Italian tanker less than 24 hours after they fired on a fishing boat, killing two Tamil Nadu fishermen off Kochi on Wednesday. Indian authorities said the Italian navymen mistook the fishermen for Somali pirates and fired instantly in violation of international anti-piracy guidelines - a claim denied by Italy. The FIR did name anyone in particular. "It's a very serious and unfortunate incident," defence minister A K Antony said. Italian envoy Giacomo Sanfelice di Monteforte was summoned to the external affairs ministry to convey India's protest. In Kochi, senior Italian officials met Kerala government representatives to decide the future course of action and how to quell the uproar among fishing community in the state. This came shortly after the ministry of external affairs summoned Italian envoy Giacomo Sanfelice di Monteforte to register a strong protest against the shooting. Secretary (west) M Ganapathi told the ambassador he must ask the Italian nationals involved in the incident to cooperate with the local Kerala authorities carrying out the probe. With Enrica Lexie now anchored off ...
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Chennai, Vigilance officials on Friday conducted raids at premises belonging to former DMK minister K R Periyakaruppan across Tamil Nadu in connection with a disproportionate assets case. The raids by Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption were in progress in Chennai and Sivaganga districts, DVAC sources said. A Sivaganga report said vigilance officials raided the houses and office premises of the former minister and his close relatives there. Periyakaruppan, former Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments minister, is the latest among several DMK leaders and former ministers besides MLAs to face police and DVAC action either on land grab charges or allegations of disproportionate assets after the AIADMK government came to power in April last year. DVAC had earlier conducted raids at the houses of nine former DMK ministers, J Anbazhagan, MLA and former legislator B ...
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CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu has adopted Gujarat's strategy of introducing chess in all schools in an apparent bid to improve cognitive skills of students. The unique initiative, to be launched next academic year, is aimed at exposing students, especially those from "educationally backward" districts, to the rudiments of the game. A senior education department official said the state was following up on the announcement made by chief minister J Jayalalithaa in August 2011 to start the practice in government and aided schools. The inspiration was the "chess in schools" programme run by the World Chess Federation, whose president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov had met Jayalalithaa earlier in the year. "It (the chess programme) will give children in the seven to 17 age group an opportunity to test their skills. Training will be given to physical education teachers and one or two others in each school so they can train the children," said additional chief secretary T S Sridhar. ...
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CHENNAI, INDIA : Thirty-five Indian fishermen who drifted into Sri Lankan waters late last month were taken back to the state of Tamil Nadu by the Indian Coast Guard on Tuesday, the Press Trust of India reported. A total of 40 fishermen on 10 boats became distressed in rough seas between December 18 and December 29 as a result of poor weather and heavy winds. They had ventured into the seas from different coastal districts of Tamil Nadu and were pushed into Sri Lankan waters. Of the fishermen, 36 were rescued but later detained by Sri Lankan authorities. Following the intervention of the Tamil Nadu government and the Indian Embassy in Sri Lanka, the rescued fishermen were released by a local court "without being made to undergo any procedures." Four fishermen remain missing and are feared to have drowned. The repatriation on Tuesday had earlier been delayed after Cyclone Thane struck India's southeastern coast last week, killing 46 people. Thane was the strongest cyclone of the 2011 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, which runs throughout the year although most cyclones tend to form between April and December, with notable peaks in May and ...
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