2015, മേയ് 26, ചൊവ്വാഴ്ച

Black money: Switzerland discloses names of two Indians

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Berne: Two Indian women figure among scores of foreign nationals with Swiss bank accounts, whose names have been made public by Switzerland in its official gazette for being probed in their respective countries.

Making public these names, the Swiss Federal Tax Administration (FTA) has asked the two Indians to file an appeal within 30 days before the Federal Administrative Court if they do not want their details to be shared with the Indian authorities under their 'mutual assistance' treaty on tax matters.

However, no further details -- other than their dates of birth -- were made public for the two 'Indian nationals' - Sneh Lata Sawhney and Sangita Sawhney.

Similar is the case for other foreign nationals including the British, Spanish and Russians. However, in case of American and Israeli citizens, their full names have been withheld and they have been identified by their initials and dates of birth.

At least 40 such 'final notices' have been published in the Swiss Federal Gazette so far this month, while more such names are expected to be published going forward.

The alleged stashing of wealth by Indians in Swiss banks has been a matter of great debate in India.

The Indian government has been pushing the Swiss authorities for a long time to share information on the suspected tax evaders, while Switzerland has shared some details in cases where India has been able to provide some independent evidence of suspected tax evasion by Indian clients of Swiss banks.

While there was no immediate reply to queries mailed to the FTA spokesperson in this regard, these names are being published in the Swiss Federal Gazette in the backdrop of the Swiss government being flooded with requests on suspected black money hoarders in Swiss banks from various countries including India.

Jaya DA case: KPCC legal cell against filing appeal in SC

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Bengaluru : The legal cell of ruling Congress in Karnataka today advised the government in the state not to file an appeal against the acquittal of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in the disproportionate assets case.

The role of Karnataka was administrative and not judicial and the state was not an aggrieved party in respect of the
High Court judgment acquitting Jayalalithaa and three others of all charges, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee Legal and Human Rights Department said.

After meeting Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, department Chairman C M Dhananjaya said Karnataka had filed an affidavit
in the transfer petition case (regarding shifting of trial to Bengaluru) in the Supreme Court stating that it 'has no
interest in the outcome of the trial'.

'Therefore, filing of appeal by the state of Karnataka amounts to showing interest on the outcome of the case,' he
said, adding that this amounts to going back on the undertaking and also to contempt of the court.

'I am of the opinion that it is not proper for the state government to file the appeal,' he told PTI.

He said the Chief Minister told him that the government would take an 'appropriate decision'.

The Karnataka High Court gave a clean chit to Jayalalithaa and three others on May 11, clearing them of 'all charges' in
the 19-year-old case, helping her to return as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

Advocate General Ravivarma Kumar and Special Public Prosecutor in the case B V Acharya have made public their
advice to the state government, as the sole prosecutor, to file an appeal in the apex court. PTI

Nursing scam: CBI books case against Mathew International

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Kochi: The CBI registered a case against Mathew International Agency in connection with the nursing recruitment scandal. The CBI has booked three cases against the agency on Tuesday. 

The case relates to recruitment of nurses from Kerala by licensed agencies outside Kerala violating legal rules. These agencies breached rules by opening sub offices in Kerala and conducting recruitment. The agency has also recruited more nurses than the allotted number. Mathew International, headquartered in Mumbai, also collected a hefty amount from candidates with the help of Protector of Emmigrants.

The cheating by the agency came to light after several nurses, recruited for Kuwait by paying lakhs, filed a complaint. Meanwhile, some recruitment agencies have closed down their offices in Kochi. Earlier, the CBI raided 7 agencies in Kochi and Kottayam, including Mathew International, a couple of weeks back.

2015, മേയ് 25, തിങ്കളാഴ്‌ച

Couple killed as car falls into gorge

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   Tags: couple, killed, Makkoottam
 
KANNUR: A couple was killed and two others injured when a car in which they were travelling fell into a deep gorge near Perumbady check post at Makootam Churam on the border with Karnataka late last night.
The dead were identified as Mohanan (58), and his wife Chandrika (50). The seriously injured Bhaskaran and another person were admitted to a hospital at Veerajpetta in neighbouring Karnataka state.
The accident occurred around 2200 hrs last night, about 100 km from Iritty when the family members were returning home from Mysuru. The car went out of control, skidded off the road and fell into the gorge, police said. Some local people rescued the injured who were then rushed to a nearby hospital in Karnataka state.

Indian-Origin Neuro-Surgeon Re-Attaches British Man's Head to Spine

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London, United Kingdom: An British man who had his head ripped off from his spine in a car accident has survived, a media report said on Sunday.

Indian-origin neuro-surgeon Anant Kamat re-attached Tony Cowan's skull to his spine with a metal plate and bolts in a rare operation. Mr Cowan now hopes to go home soon, Mirror online reported.

Tony Cowan from Newcastle city met with an accident on September 9 last year, when his car hit a speed-bump, spun out of control and crashed into a telephone pole.

His heart stopped and he had to be resuscitated by paramedics at the location before being rushed to a hospital. Mr Cowan sustained a fracture in his neck and complete spinal cord injury -- an injury medics describe as almost 'unsurvivable'.

He was not brain-damaged even though his head was snapped off from his spine and it was only being held in place by tissue and muscle at the time of crash.

Jaya launches 201 Amma Canteens, populist schemes

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Chennai: A day after she was sworn in as chief minister, J. Jayalalithaa on Sunday inaugurated 201 Amma Canteens and various populist schemes across the state via video conferencing.

She launched a scheme to sell 500 gm packets of 'A' grade lentils (pigeon pea) and black gram at subsidised rates of Rs.53.50 and Rs.56, respectively.

According to a statement issued by the state government, 'B' grade black gram would be sold at Rs.49.50 per 500 gm packet.

The pulses would be sold through state government cooperative stores.

The Amma Canteen scheme is a hugely popular one. At these canteens, good quality food is sold at very cheap rates three times a day -- morning, afternoon and night.

A total of 297 Amma Canteens were functioning across the state till date and their number went up to 498 on Sunday.

Jayalalithaa also launched housing for poor, road improvement (outlay Rs.1,800 crore), drinking water (outlay Rs.77.13 crore) and livelihood training programmes for which Rs.100 crore has been allocated this year.

Under the housing for poor, a sum of Rs.210,000 would be paid to eligible families to build a proper house.

On Saturday, Jayalalithaa was sworn in as chief minister after her acquittal by the Karnataka High Court in the Rs.66 crore disproportionate assets case.

IANS

CBSE class XII results announced

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New Delhi: The Central Board of Secondary Education today announced its much-awaited Class XII results 2015.
The results have been made available on board's official websites www.cbse.nic.in and www.cbseresults.nic.in

The students should submit their roll numbers on the website for downloading the results. The class 12 CBSE examinations for this year commenced on March 2.

The CBSE has announced that the Class X results will be announced on May 27.

For results, visit: http://cbseresults.nic.in/class12/cbse122015_all.htm

2015, മേയ് 24, ഞായറാഴ്‌ച

65-year-old is now mother of 17 children after giving birth to quadruplets

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A 65-year-old woman is now the mother of 17 children after giving birth to quadruplets.

Annegret Raunigk has added three boys and a girl to her huge brood after they were born prematurely on Tuesday in Berlin, German media reports.

The four new arrivals were delivered by cesarean section after 26 weeks, and are named Neeta, Dries, Bence and Fjonn according to RTL.

Her decision to conceive again was controversial, even within her own family.

Earlier this year her tenth child spoke out against her decision to have even more children.

Her son Velten Raunigk, 27, previously said: 'I don't think it is a good thing for mum to be having even more babies.'

The chemical industry executive spoke out a day after his mother appeared on television to speak about her decision to have the children after spending £15,000 on IVF treatment in Kiev, Ukraine.

Velten was the first of the clan to speak out against his mother.

He said that his youngest sister Leila, who turned ten earlier this year, is already bullied at school because of her 'grandma mum' and he and his siblings fear they will be left to bring up the quads if anything happens to his aging mother.

He said the family learned about her pregnancy after a family gathering earlier this year.

'I remember mum drank no wine and she seemed to be wearing extra-wide clothes,' he said. 'I had a feeling even before she told us.'

He said his youngest sister Auda, 22, broke the news to him.

He added: 'I learned she had gone abroad and was artificially inseminated and was expecting quadruplets.'

'My youngest sister Leila is ten,' he continued. 'I know she is bullied at school because her mum looks like her grandmum.

'How will that work with quadruplets?'

His father Ulrich died at 63 in 2008. He had nine children with Annegret, two others were born earlier and fathered by other men.

He went on: 'Shortly before the reunification of Germany my parents separated.

'He took the eldest five with him but he didn't stop caring for us others.'

Two other men sired the two other children which make up Annegret's enormous tribe.

But although Velten criticises his mother's decision, he said she has always played her motherhood role well, adding: 'Whenever we had problems she was always their for us.

'After the break with my father she flew us all off to Mallorca for a beach holdiday.

'The two weeks I spent there was the best experience of my childhood years.

'Despite disagreeing with her, if she needs help and support in the future, we will be there for her. Our family sticks together.'

Now the quads are born the German state will pay Annegret 988 euros a month, amounting to £712, for Leila and the others until they are 18.

2015Reports say IS killed around 400 Syrians in Unesco-listed city

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Damascus: Islamic State (IS) militants have killed about 400 people since they stormed the ancient city of Palmyra in central Syria last Wednesday, media reported on Sunday.

Most of those killed in the millennia-old oasis city were women and children, Xinhua news agency reported citing the official Syrian TV.

Last Wednesday, the IS militants took full control of the ancient city of Palmyra in central Syria.

Both the residential parts and the historic parts, which host 2,000-year-old monuments and temples, of Palmyra have fallen into the hands of the IS, according to a London-based monitoring group.

An airbase, a central prison and the intelligence headquarters are all in IS hands now, said the group.

The IS offensive against Palmyra started on May 13. The group has since captured the towns of Sukhneh and Amiriyeh and the al-Hail and Arak oilfields.

Mamoun Abdulkarim, general director of Syrian antiquities and museums, told Xinhua that government forces managed to transport all movable ancient items from Palmyra to safe areas.

Abdulkarim expressed grave concern over the fate of the old temples and monuments that cannot be moved.

Palmyra, a Unesco World Heritage site, contains monumental ruins of a city that was one of the most important cultural centres in ancient times.

IANS

Bar bribery case: Lie-detector test corroborates Ambili's claims

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Thiruvananthapuram: In a setback to Finance Minister K M Mani, the lie-detector test performed on Kerala Bar Hotels Association working president Biju Ramesh's driver Ambili corroborates his allegations against the minister.

The Forensic report was handed over to the court and subsequently it will be handed over to the Vigilance team probing the case.

In his statement, Ambili had said that he drove Bar hotel owners association president Rajkumar Unni and a few others to Mani's official residence, adding that he witnessed them handing over the money to the minister. The Vigilance wanted him to undergo polygraph test to confirm the statement.

Accordingly, investigating officer SP R Sukesan had served Ambili a notice asking him to present himself for the test. Last Monday, Ambili was put on the test at the State Forensic Sciences Laboratory here.

During the process held in presence of Ambili's lawyer R Rajesh, a team headed by Forensic Assistant Director Pradeep Saju asked Ambili 39 'yes or no' questions. The test commenced at 11 am lasted till 4 pm.

Ambili had earlier told the court he was willing to undergo the test. 

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