MONTH THAT WAS

Chinese vote in Assam polls
Tinsukia: Like in the previous elections the small Chinese community of about 250 in Tinsukia district of Upper Assam exercised their franchise hoping to see better times for themselves. Wang Shing Tung, who owns a popular chowmein and momo joint in Tinsukia town, said he and members of his community ensure that they do not miss even one election and always vote even though their dismal economic condition remains unchanged.
Tung said his community votes regularly during each election in the hope that the new government will have plans and schemes for their welfare and uplift.


SC raps Mah Satyam’s arrogant stance v/s govt
New Delhi: The Supreme Court censured Mahindra Satyam, formerly Satyam computer, for writing to the Government adopting the tone of “arrogance” in the case relating to Rs 617 crore income tax demand, which is being re-assessed by the tax authorities. Asking the company to withdraw the letter, the apex court expressed displeasure at its tone and tenor that indicated as if Satyam was dictating an order to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
The court said the company had misinterpreted the assurance of the tax department that it would set aside its earlier order seeking Rs 617 crore in Income Tax.
“Instruct them (Satyam) to withdraw the letter. This is not the way,” a three judge bench headed by the Chief Justice S H Kapadia said when senior advocates Harish Salve and Abhishek Manu Singhvi, were making submission for the IT firm.

Indian saves 10 on death row at Sharjah-UAE
Dubai: A Sharjah court has waived the death sentence awarded to eight Indian youths for the murder of a Pakistani national after a Dubai-based Indian hotelier paid blood money to the family of the victim on their behalf.
The murder took place on July 11, 2009 following which 10 men, eight Indians – all from Punjab – and two Pakistanis, were arrested.
The death penalty of two Pakistanis have also been waived off after Dubai-based hotelier SP Singh Oberoi paid blood money.
“Death penalty has been waived off for all the 10 accused, eight Indians and two Pakistanis. They have to serve three years of imprisonment of which they have already completed 21 months. So they will be free in another six months and deported directly to their home countries,” Oberoi told PTI.

Gunmen kills 6 women in Iraq
Mosul (Iraq): Gunmen stormed into a notorious and poor district of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, killing six women and a man, police and medical sources said. “Six women and one man were killed by gunmen who stormed into a home in Al-Tanak neighbourhood of Mosul,” a police major told AFP of a poor district known as a location for brothels, which are illegal in Iraq.

Explosion kills 23
Kabul: A team of suicide bombers shot their way into the compound of a road construction company in eastern Afghanistan and detonated a truck loaded with explosives, killing 23 people and wounding about 60, the Afghan government said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which the interior Ministry said occurred in the Barmal district of Paktika province. The ministry said three attackers went up to the gate of the Zahir construction company, shot the guard, and then drove a large truck that was full of explosives into the compound where they detonated it.

Hindi radio station in Oman?
Dubai: The owner of several commercial radio stations in Oman has backed a Hindi radio station in the country as a new way to reach out to the Hindi-speaking expatriate community in the country. Maqbool Hameed Al Saleh, chairman of Entertainment Network Co has supported the idea of introducing a Hindi FM channel in Oman, a Times of Oman report said. With over 700,000 Hindi speaking expatriates residing here, a radio station in Hindi will be a great medium to connect with them. Al Saleh is the owner and operator of Hala FM in Arabic and Hi FM in English. The channel will not only play popular Bollywood music but will also focus on content like news, views and contests, thereby allowing a larger section to take part in this interactive platform, the report quoted Al saleh as saying. Neighboring UAE has several Hindi and Urdu stations that are popular with expatriate communities. Al Saleh said the channel will also serve as a medium to educate non-English and non-Arabic patrons about the government and also enable the Indian consulate in Oman to interact directly with the community.

Japan dumps radioactive water into sea
Tokyo: Japanese engineers dumped tones of contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea as they pumped coloured powder in a desperate measure to trace source of dangerous leakages in reactor complex, reports PTI.
Tokyo Electric Power Co, which operates the nuclear plant northeast of the capital, began disposing of 10,000 tonnes of water containing low-level radioactive substances in the Pacific Ocean from the plant. The dumping of the water that was about 100 times more radioactive than legal limits will help make room to store more highly polluted water filling the No 2 reactor turbine building as it was hampering the plant’s restoration work, TEPCO said. “There is a need to release already stored water in order to accept the additional waste water,” officials said.

Trade gap with China up 13 times in 5 yrs
New Delhi: India’s trade deficit with China has grown 13 times between 2004-05 and 2009-10, whereas the bilateral commerce increased by three-and-a-half times, reflecting a huge advantage which accrued to the neighbouring country. While India’s merchandise trade with China went up from USD 12.70 Billion 2004.05, the figure reached USD 42.37 billion in 2009-10. However, a big imbalance against India accompanied the growing commercial relations between the two countries, according to the latest RBI data. From USD 1.48 billion in 2004-05 the trade balance in favour of China grew up to USD 19.21 billion in 2009-10. In the recent months, imports from China have gone up by a huge 365 per cent in 2010-11, sources said.

Glaxo to pay Rs 71.21 cr for DPCO violation
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has directed pharma major Glaxo India to pay Rs71.21 crores to the state in a 20-year-old disputes over pricing of the drugs scheduled under the Drug Price Control Order. The dispute was over the pricing of-Betamethasone Alcohol, Betamethasone 17 valerate and Betamethasone di sodium Phosphate-formulation used for manufacturing medicines for skin-related problems and fungal infection. It directed the pharma major to deposit the amount difference in the Drug Price Equalisation Account.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

MIP - MARCH 2024

FOCUS - APRIL 2024

FEBRUARY - FOCUS 2024