Dehradun: The body of Ranbir Singh, gunned down by Uttarakhand police in an alleged fake encounter, bore 12 marks of bullets fired from close range and 27 other injuries showing that he may have been tortured, according to an autopsy report.
Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank had on Saturday ordered a CB-CID probe into the killing of 22-year-old Singh, an MBA qualified from Uttar Pradesh who police claimed was shot dead on Friday in an encounter after he fled with a sub-inspector's revolver, but his family today demanded a CBI inquiry into the incident.
Police sources today said a post mortem conducted at Doon hospital here on Saturday revealed that Singh's body bore deep wounds and 12 bullet marks which showed that he was fired at from close range, raising questions about the police's version of events. The report also revealed that Singh might have been tortured before his death. This was corroborated by 28 injury marks found on his body, the sources said.
However, SSP Dehradun Amit Sinha, who was given the postmortem report by hospital authorities, was not available for comment. Supporting the demand of Singh's father Ravindra Pal Singh for a CBI probe, the main opposition Congress also sought an inquiry by the central agency. Uttarakhand PCC President Yashpal Arya asked the state government to hand over the case to CBI claiming that the state level probe will be biased.
According to the police, Singh, who was riding a motorcycle along with two others, snatched the revolver of a sub-inspector when their two-wheeler was stopped during routine checking of vehicles in view of President Pratibha Patil's visit.
No sporting ties with India right now: Pak
KARACHI:Pakistan sports minister Aftab Shah Jillani does not foresee restoration of sporting ties with India in the near future.
"I don't think it is possible to restore bilateral sporting ties with India at this stage and in these existing circumstances," Jillani told reporters at a function in Karachi.
He said the sporting ties were determined by the government level ties between the two countries.
"As soon as conditions improve and official contacts are made the sports ministry will seek advice from the foreign ministry," he added.
The Pakistan foreign office didn't allow Pakistani cricketers to go and play in the Indian Premier League this year due to the tense relations with India following the Mumbai attacks in November last year.
The Indian cricket board has also avoided any bilateral ties with Pakistan since the Mumbai incident and cancelled a scheduled Test tour earlier this year.
It has also not scheduled any bilateral series with Pakistan in the next Future Tour Program from 2012.
Pakistan and India are not scheduled to play their next bilateral series in the existing FTP until early 2012.
Underworld men plotting to kill me: Varun Gandhi
NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Varun Gandhi on Sunday claimed that underworld criminals arrested in Delhi a day earlier were plotting to kill him and urged the home minister to take urgent action.
"The plot against my life by dangerous underworld criminals apprehended yesterday by Delhi Police exemplifies exactly the kind of terror and violence against which I stand and have been warning against. This is the second time in recent months that such a conspiracy has been uncovered," Varun Gandhi, the son of BJP leader Maneka Gandhi, said in a statement here.
Six sharpshooters of Chhota Shakeel - one of India's most wanted gangsters - were arrested from different parts of the capital Saturday, with police saying "some VVIPs" were on their hit list.
Urging the home minister to take immediate action, Varun Gandhi said: "The home ministry should respond with the urgency and responsibility that behoves those entrusted with the safety of a whole nation. May it not later be said that petty political considerations interfered with the course of official duty."
Varun Gandhi, who won the Lok Sabha election from Pilibhit constituency in Uttar Pradesh, created a big controversy with his reported hate speeches against Muslims and was even arrested for it.
Jackson to be buried without brain: Report
London: Michael Jackson will be buried without his brain in a private ceremony on Tuesday by his family.
The pop star, 50, died after a suspected cardiac arrest on Tuesday but the circumstances around his death continue to baffle the investigators.
Michael Jackson's brain was taken out to conduct neuropathology tests to seek clues to his sudden collapse and demise, the Daily Mirror reported.
Los Angeles Coroner's spokesman Craig Harvey confirmed that neuropathology tests will be carried out on the legend's brain to see if it holds any clues to the exact cause of his death, said the newspaper.
Sources at the coroner's office revealed that his brain was removed before his body was released to relatives two days after his death, last Tuesday.
The examination on Jackson's brain cannot begin until at least two weeks after the death when the brain will harden sufficiently to slice it open.
Jackson's family was given the choice to either wait for three weeks to reclaim the organ or to bury the star without his brain but they decided to go ahead with the funeral, which is scheduled to take place on Tuesday morning in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Los Angeles County.
Shiney has not confessed to consensual sex says lawyer
Mumbai:Actor Shiney Ahuja has not admitted before court that he had consensual sex with his domestic help and taken a stand that he was being framed up on rape charges, his lawyer Srikant Shivade said on Sunday. "What the actor had said in his bail petition was that even if it is assumed for the sake of argument that he had consensual sex, no offence had been made out against him," Shivade said.
In his bail petition, Ahuja said, "It is learnt that there were no external injuries on the person, which is inconsistent with the story put forth by the complainant." 36-year-old Ahuja contended that he came from a good family background and denied consensual sex or rape, saying he was being "framed up" and was a victim of a "well-hatched conspiracy" to malign his image and extort money from him. "It is a well-hatched conspiracy to malign my image and extort money from me. The victim's story of alleged rape is highly suspicious and doubtful as no external injuries were found on her person," Shiney's bail petition said.
The prosecution argued that granting bail to Ahuja at this stage might hamper the probe as he was influential and might tamper with witnesses or even intimidate the victim. Prosecutor R V Kini said police have a strong case against Shiney as DNA and medical reports have corroborated the victim's allegations.
Ahuja was arrested on June 15 after his 20-year-old maid accused him of raping her in his Oshiwara home. The actor is currently lodged at the Central Prison on Arthur Road and his judicial custody has been extended till July 16.
3000 girls missing in Chhattisgarh
RAIPUR: Around 3000 girls have been reported missing in Chhattisgarh apparently due to illegal trafficking.
According to police sources, 5000 persons were registered missing, out of which 3000 are girls.
Sister Sevti Panna of Jashpur-based NGO Gramin Vikas Kendra claimed that placement agencies are behind this racket as they lure women with good job prospects but after some days these women go missing.
Panna claimed that these agencies bungle half the money promised to the women. The women work as domestic servants and are often subjected to physical and mental torture, she said.
Claiming that a number of placement agencies in Mumbai and Delhi have religious names, which they use to convince parents to send their girls to the cities, Panna said women leave their villages for the glitz and glamour of city life.
"The placement agencies give the women a new name and this makes tracing them a difficult task. The women are left unassisted in the hustle and bustle of the city life," she said.
Additional Director Of Police (Crime) Ramnivas said that the police is taking action against all such errant placement agencies and the idea of taking help of the NGO's is being deliberated upon.
Kandhamal riots accused out on bail, takes oath as MLA
Phulbani:BJP leader and a prime accused in last year's communal riot in Kandhamal, Manoj Pradhan, was released from jail here on Sunday, a day after being granted interim bail to be able to take oath as an MLA. Pradhan, who was lodged in jail since his arrest in October, 2008 on charge of murder, riot and arson, was set free after furnishing required documents, a day after a fast track court here granted him conditional bail for 15 days in two cases. He had earlier got bail in 12 other cases.
Elected to Orissa assembly from G Udaygiri segment in the recent elections, the riot accused was granted bail on the basis of Orissa High Court's order. Pradhan had earlier moved the High Court seeking bail to be able to take oath as a member of the Orissa assembly. Refuting the charges against him, Pradhan told reporters soon after his release: "I have been falsely implicated. The charges levelled against me are fabricated and fictitious." The riot accused, who is facing charges in seven murder cases, six cases relating to house torching and an attempt to murder case, said he would soon take oath as a legislator and work for the development of his constituency.
State BJP president Suresh Pujari said Pradhan was likely to take oath as an MLA on Tuesday and the party had urged the assembly speaker and police to provide adequate security to Pradhan. "We fear Pradhan may become a target of Maoists outside the jail," Pujari said.
Indian Business News
Hiring likely to improve in next one year:Survey
NEW DELHI: After witnessing a slowdown in the past year, the job prospects in the country are likely to improve in the next 12 months, a survey has said.
Besides, over 70% of the recruitment agents surveyed believe that hiring will stabilize in the coming three months.
In a pan-Indian survey of recruitment agents by Edelweiss Securities, more than half (53%) of the respondents said that the situation would improve over the next one year.
Moreover, the survey said that the outlook for the short term or three months will remain stable. "About 71% respondents expect hiring to stabilize over the next three months," the survey stated.
It said that 69% of the respondents believe the number of unemployed had increased in the past one year.
The survey, which took view of various sectors, found that all sectors, except IT, hope to see an improvement in hiring that is expected to support demand for residential real estate.
"A stabilizing job market in the near term and a robust outlook beyond that, are expected to keep real estate market buoyant," the survey pointed out.
About 55% of the respondents in Mumbai expect an improvement in the hiring space is likely in the next one year.
Air India won't sack employees: Praful Patel
CHENNAI: Cash-strapped public carrier Air India would not sack employees but financial and organisational restructuring was on the cards, union minister of state for civil aviation Praful Patel said today.
"There is no question of sacking;employees will be protected," Patel said. Patel, however, said it was time for for everyone - management and staff - to introspect.
"It is a tough time and we have to cooperate..we will have to go through financial and organisational restructuring to bring back the airlines on a healthy track," Patel said.
He was speaking to reporters on his way to Chennai airport, where he had gone to inaugurate a desalination plant by Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited and also the Manali-Chennai Aviation Turbine Fuel Pipeline by Indian Oil Corporation.
On wage restructuring, a decision on which is pending, Patel said "we have sat and agreed on a formula for wages to be paid in a particular fashion," but did not elaborate.
On the two-hour walkout by Air India employees on Friday, which the management had declared illegal, to protest delayed payment in June salary, he said it was a token strike and flight operations were not affected.
Budget unlikely to raise cess on petrol,diesel
New Delhi: The Budget is not likely to raise the much-talked-about cess on diesel and petrol, used for building roads and highway infrastructure, from the present Rs two a litre.
The cess is not likely to be increased even as the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is pressing for a hike, sources said.
Under the formula for sharing the cess, half of it on diesel goes for rural development. The remaining part of the diesel cess and the entire collection from petrol is shared between the NHAI (57.5 per cent), the Railways (12.5 per cent) and state road projects (30 per cent).
Earlier, Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath had said the Railways and Rural Development Ministries have to be consulted before a decision in this regard can be taken.
Meanwhile, Amarchand Mangaldas partner Aseem Chawla said, "Instead of the Union Government raising cess, states should be encouraged to assess whether any cess can be imposed."
The pre-Budget Economic Survey, tabled in Parliament, also suggested reviewing and phasing out various forms of cess.
The Government collected around Rs 30,000 crore through the cess on diesel and petrol. Going by that trend, it could collect about Rs 15,000 crore from any additional Re one cess a litre.
The additional cess is required to keep the long-term pace of the road sector. Currently, funds are not much of a problem because projects are moving at very slow pace.
However, Nath is looking at a target of laying 20 km of highways per day against the below five km average at present.
Indian Cricket News|Indian Sports News| Sports News
GROS ISLET (St. Lucia): India are now one step away from a rare One-Day International series victory in the Caribbean.
They face West Indies in the fourth and final ODI on Sunday at the Beausejour Cricket Ground confident in the knowledge that they cannot lose the brief series.
The visitors won the rain-affected third ODI by six wickets on Friday at the same venue to take an unstoppable 2-1 lead in the series.
India had won the high-scoring opening ODI by 20 runs last Friday at Sabina Park in Jamaica, and two days later, West Indies rebounded to secure an eight-wicket victory in a low-scoring second ODI at the same venue.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni praised the overall effort in his side for prevailing in the match, despite having to battle the weather and the Duckworth-Lewis Method which calculates targets in weather-affected matches.
"It was getting tight, and from our experience in Twenty20 cricket, we never felt under any pressure, although we required 11 from the last six balls," said Dhoni.
"Our final target (of 159 runs from 22 overs) was always achievable, once we had two specialist batsmen at the crease, and others like Harbhajan Singh to come, but it was hard to cope with the pressure," he added.
India's top-order batting had misfired in the second ODI which led to their huge defeat, but they got a meaningful start on Friday from Dinesh Karthik and Gautam Gambhir which set things up for the final charge.
Karthik made 47 from 43 balls, and Gambhir collected 44 from 38 balls, as they shared 95 for the first wicket, and Dhoni felt this was crucial to India's victory, and hopes to see more of this on Sunday.
"We are a side which really relies on our opening batsman to give us the momentum," said Dhoni.
"Once we get a good start, we really have the firepower to capitalise on it, and get a big total on the board."
West Indies, on the other hand, have to finish the series with a win which would ensure the series ends in a tie.
"We are very disappointed about the way we lost the third ODI," said West Indies captain Chris Gayle.
"At the same time, we have to pick ourselves up and get ourselves ready for the final game on Sunday. But we'll just have to take the positives that we can out of this game."
Gayle agreed that his side found it difficult to get the momentum in between the rain to set India a more formidable challenge, but he felt the final target was decent.
"We thought we had a chance of defending the target because it's a big outfield," said Gayle.
"But their openers gave them a good start. . .and they were running hard between the wickets, and putting a lot of pressure on our fielders as well, so we will have to work on this, and see if we can squeeze their batsmen a bit more in the outfield."
In bilateral ODI series, India have only once overcome West Indies on five previous trips to the Caribbean, and this was 2-1 in a three-match contest seven years ago.
Roddick aims to stop Federer from rewriting history books
London: The numbers are stacked against Andy Roddick when he faces Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final on Sunday, but the American is a slicker package than the one beaten by the Swiss in two previous showpiece encounters here.
Federer holds a jaw-dropping 18-2 career advantage over Roddick and comfortably beat the 26-year-old from Omaha, Nebraska in the 2004 and 2005 finals, with Swiss artistry generally trumping American grit each time they have met. The 2009 edition of Roddick, though, is no longer a big-serving, one-trick pony.
A year ago, the affable American was stuck in an airport lounge and caught on television the scintillating denouement of the final between Federer and Rafael Nadal. That demoralising sight and a soul-searching conversation with wife Brooklyn Decker convinced him things had to change. Frustrated at the sight of Federer and Nadal hogging the majors, Roddick set to work on his fitness and linked up with new coach Larry Stefanki. That and the weight of years of experience have brought him a new, formidable armoury.
He brutally stifled the menace of Andy Murray in the semi-final, using his massive serve, punching accuracy with his ground strokes and shrewd advances to the net to dismantle the Scot's game before a devastated nation. "Brook and I had a lot of talks on if I still thought I could play and at least be towards the top of the game. I definitely openly questioned it at that point," Roddick said moments after unseating world number three Murray. "So this off season, we said, you know what, if you're not gonna be up there, let's at least not wonder. Let's prepare yourself and give yourself every opportunity. "I did work real hard and was committed, and have been committed from everything to diet to sleep to everything. So I certainly gave myself every opportunity to succeed."
Williams sisters win Wimbledon doubles title
Wimbledon: Serena Williams won a pair of Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon, just like her sister Venus did last year. Serena added the women's doubles title to her take at this year's tournament, teaming with big sister Venus to beat Rennae Stubbs and Samantha Stosur of Australia 7-6 (4), 6-4 on Saturday. It's their fourth Wimbledon title together, part of their haul of nine Grand Slam women's doubles championships. "There's nothing like winning a title with your sister," said Serena, who has won 11 major singles titles. "It's really a good feeling."
A year ago, Venus beat Serena in the championship match to win her fifth Wimbledon singles title, and the pair then teamed up to win the doubles. "One out of two's not bad," Venus said. "I really wanted to win the singles, but they're two separate events. If I won the singles and not the doubles, it's still not the same."
Against the Australians, the Williams sisters traded breaks in the first set, with Stosur and Stubbs taking a 2-1 lead off Serena's opening service game. But the Americans eventually broke back to 4-4 when Stosur put a backhand volley into the net. In the tiebreaker, Venus put the sisters up a mini-break on the second point with a return of serve that Stubbs couldn't get back over. "The ball clipped the tape, and therefore it went a little bit higher than it should have and it hit my frame and didn't quite get off the string," Stubbs said. "It was really unlucky."
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