NIA searches home of Ranchi man - Mumbai blasts

A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team Friday searched the home of a man in this Jharkhand capital in connection with the Mumbai triple bombing, police sources said.

However, Manzar Imam, said to be in his 30s, was not at his home in Bariatu locality when the team from India's premier anti-terror agency went. Police sources said the NIA sleuths spoke to his family and searched his computer for information.

Mazar, sources said, is a neighbour and friend of Danish, whose name figured in the probe into the 2008 Ahmedabad serial bombings, in which at least 50 people were killed.

'My son is being implicated as he was a friend of Danish,' said Manzar's father Ali Imam.

His family said Manzar was not at home as he was unwell and had gone for treatment.

According to police sources, Danish's mail was tracked by investigating agencies who believed that some Ranchi youth were associated with the Indian Mujahideen.

87 telangana congress MLA's resigned in Andhra pradesh.

 The stage was set for a constitutional crisis in Andhra Pradesh with almost 87 of the legislators in the 294-strong state assembly belonging to the Telangana region submitting their resignations to deputy speaker Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka in support of their demand for a separate state on Monday afternoon.

Those who submitted their resignations comprised 49 Congress MLAs including 11 ministers in the Kiran Kumar Reddy government, 37 TDP MLAs and one PRP MLA. Of the 119 MLAs that belong to the Telangana region, the Congress accounts for 53. The only four Telangana legislators from the ruling party who did not resign were city ministers Danam Nagender and Mukesh Goud and MLAs M Shashidhar Reddy and deputy chief minister Damodar Raja Narasimha.

Eleven out of 15 ministers of Andhra Pradesh cabinet hailing from Telangana region on Monday resigned from their posts as well as membership of the legislative assembly on separate statehood issue but maintained that it was"not to defy"Congress high command.

The Kiran Kumar government has a strength of 154 MLAs in the 295 assembly and has the support of 18 PRP MLAs, 7 belonging to the MIM and a few independents. Interestingly, among the first to resign on Monday from the ruling party were Konda Surekha, an ardent supporter of YSR Congress chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy, and P Vishnuvardhan Reddy, city MLA who has stayed away from either the CM or Jagan group.

Soon after submitting their resignations, the panchayat raj minister K Jana Reddy said that their sole aim was to achieve Telangana and they would continue to remain in the party and fight for a separate state. He expressed happiness that they had chosen to submit resignations on July 4 which happens to be the United States'independence day and hoped that Telangana region would get independence soon.

Another minister, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy said that the move made by the Congress leaders should not be viewed with any doubt."We are very serious and there is no question of going to Delhi for talks unless the central leadership announces that they will carve a separate state. But soon after, the panchayat raj minister K Jana Reddy said that he was going to Delhi in the afternoon as he had been called by the party high command.

Admitting that they could be staring at a crisis, aides of the chief minister said they are assessing the situation."Vikramarka, the deputy speaker who accepted the resignations, is likely to wait for speaker Nadendla Manohar to return to Hyderabad  from his trip abroad for a decision to be taken on the resignations. In the meantime, the Congress high command too will swing into action. We are confident that the Kiran government will survive,"said a CM aide.

But New Delhi is already feeling the heat. Six Congress Lok Sabha MPs and one from the Rajya Sabha arrived in the national capital on Monday morning and were scheduled to submit their resignations to Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar and Rajya Sabha deputy chairman M Hamid Ansari later in the afternoon. AICC general secretary in-charge of AP Ghulam Nabi Azad again urged restrain on the part of the Telangana elected representatives and claimed he has summoned a team of MLAs to New Delhi for urgent talks.

In the meantime, the Telangana Political JAC went into an emergency meeting and is likely to urge the 11 TRS MLAs also to follow suit with their resignations so that the entire region acts in one voice in order to achieve their goal of a separate state. On the other hand, keenly monitoring the developments, the MPS, MLAs and MLCs of all the major political parties belonging to the Seema-Andhra region were huddled in closed door meetings and planning their move to counter the Telangana leaders. Earlier, they were scheduled to meet the Congress central leaders in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Neeraj Grover murder case

Held guilty only for destroying evidence in the brutal murder of television executive Neeraj Grover three years ago, small-time Kannada actress Maria Susairaj walked free on Friday as a Mumbai court sentenced her to three years in jail – time she has already served as an undertrial.

The maximum time for her conviction is three years.

Her boyfriend, former Navy officer Emile Jerome Mathew – convicted of 'culpable homicide not amounting to murder' – was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

On Thursday, the Mumbai court had absolved the two of murder and held them guilty of lesser offences as the Mumbai Police failed to conclusively prove the motive behind the crime.

Jerome was convicted of 'culpable homicide not amounting to murder' under Section 304 (part I) IPC which attracts a life term in jail or imprisonment up to 10 years. Both he and Maria were also found guilty of causing the disappearance of evidence under section 201 IPC which provides for a maximum three years in jail.

Amid criticism over silence, PM meets editors tomorrow

Under attack from civil society activists, the media and Opposition parties, voicing the need for him to be more communicative over critical issues facing the nation, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is planning to meet tomorrow morning with editors of newspapers and magazines, say sources.

The last few months have seen Dr Singh's government functioning in a continuum of crises. Financial scandals have tumbled out of the offices of some senior ministers. And the controversy over the Lokpal Bill - which has headlined the summer - has left people asking why the Prime Minister isn't offering his opinion on what sort of Bill the government plans to introduce to check corruption.

Opposition parties have said the Prime Minister needs to explain the "governance deficit" that they allege has crippled the UPA coalition. Activists led by Gandhian Anna Hazare - who describe the government's version of the Lokpal bill as a "betrayal" have said repeatedly that they don't understand the PM's silence on a matter of such great importance.

In an exclusive interview to NDTV earlier this week, Home Minister P Chidambaram accepted, "Yes, I acknowledge that lots of people would like the Prime Minister to step up to the plate, so as to say, and speak more often. But that is the style of the person."

Dr Singh has so far held only three nationally-televised press conferences in the last seven years.

Sanjay Dutt's Incredible Action Hulk in Agneepath

Sanjay Dutt dons into yet another look for Karan Johar's Agneepath returns. The look - inspired by popular comic hero, The Incredible Hulk - has Sanju Baba sporting some inevitable tattoos on his well built arms and going all bald, whilst escorting himself in a loose printed, yellow shirt.

Co-starring alongside Hrithik Roshan and Priyanka Chopra, the film is said to be a remake of yesteryear's runaway hit Agneepath (1990), which starred Amitabh Bachchan in his much-celebrated character of Vijay Deenanath Chauhan.

For this ultra-villainous look of Kancha Cheena, Sanjay Dutt was believed to be working very hard, working out at least twice a day - one hour for cardio and a hour and half for weights. Over his deadly look, Dutt was recently heard saying that he did this for his fans as well as himself. The actor has been looking to get back in shape for a while now.

While Sanju Baba escorts the Hulk Hogan look, Hrithik's look on the other hand is expected to be intense and menacing.

Sunflowers to clean radioactive soil in Japan

Campaigners in Japan are asking people to grow sunflowers, said to help decontaminate radioactive soil, in response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster that followed March's massive quake and tsunami.

Volunteers are being asked to grow sunflowers this year, then send the seeds to the stricken area where they will be planted next year to help get rid of radioactive contaminants in the plant's fallout zone.

The campaign, launched by young entrepreneurs and civil servants in Fukushima prefecture last month, aims to cover large areas in yellow blossoms as a symbol of hope and reconstruction and to lure back tourists.

"We will give the seeds sent back by people for free to farmers, the public sector and other groups next year," said project leader Shinji Handa. The goal is a landscape so yellow that "it will surprise NASA", he said.

The massive earthquake and tsunami left more than 23,000 people dead or missing on Japan's northeast coast and crippled the Fukushima nuclear power plant that has leaked radiation into the environment since.

Almost 10,000 packets of sunflower seeds at 500 yen ($6) each have so far been sold to some 30,000 people, including to the city of Yokohama near Tokyo, which is growing sunflowers in 200 parks, Handa said.

Handa -- who hails from Hiroshima, hit by an atomic bomb at the end of World War II -- said the sunflower project was a way for people across the nation to lend their support to the disaster region.

"This is different from donations because people will grow the flowers, and a mother can tell her children that it is like an act of prayer for the reconstruction of the northeast," Handa said.
"I also hope the project will give momentum to attract tourists back to Fukushima with sunflower seeds in their hands. I would like to make a maze using sunflowers so that children can play in it."

EU proposes 150m euros to aid farmers

Producers of salad vegetables have seen sales plummet in the outbreak, which has killed 22 people and sickened more than 2,400.EU agriculture ministers are holding crisis talks in Luxembourg.

The EU health commissioner said the outbreak was limited to north Germany and did not need Europe-wide controls.John Dalli also warned against releasing unproven information on the outbreak, saying it had spread fear and adversely affected farm producers.

European agriculture commissioner Dacian Ciolos told journalists ahead of the Luxembourg talks: "I will propose 150m euros today.Compensation will cover the period from late May to late June, he said, but the amount paid could change once each country's reported losses are known.

Spain has been demanding 100% compensation from Germany for huge losses suffered by its farmers because of the false accusation that the outbreak began in Spanish cucumbers.Spain's fruit and vegetables exporters association has estimated losses at 225m euros (£200m) a week.

All the deaths from the outbreak, bar one in Sweden, have been in Germany. Twelve countries have been affected, with the cases outside Germany linked to travel there.