• NATIONAL

Tamil Nadu Govt rejects plea for Nalini's early release

The Tamil Nadu government on Monday rejected Nalini's plea for an early release. Nalini is the life convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. This is the second time the the board has opposed her release.

The board had recently heard the request of Nalini and three other convicts, who have also sought premature release.All the four were sentenced to death by a special court in January 1998 and the Supreme Court had upheld the sentence. Nalini's death penalty was commuted to life by the state on April 24, 2000. Nalini has been in the Vellore jail for the last 19 years.

Tension continues in old city of Hyderabad

Tension continued to grip the communally sensitive areas of old city of Hyderabad on Monday with mobs indulging in unabated stone hurling in different parts, even as the beleaguered police force is finding it difficult to contain the communal clashes that began on Saturday night. Trouble began in the old city on Saturday night when two groups belonging to different communities clashed over a dispute on hoisting religious flags in Moosa Bowli locality. Violence spread to different areas instantly. The skirmishes continued on Sunday too with innocent people being marked and attacked at different places simultaneously, as rumour mongers had a field day using short messages to spread unfounded reports of religious places being attacked.Police used tear gas shells and stun grenades after repeated lathicharges, but did not have the desired impact. Heavy police contingents including the CRPF and RAF have been deployed in the old city but attacks on religious places and people at random continued.

Sukna land scam: Judge recuses himself from hearing case

A Supreme Court judge on Monday recused himself from hearing a petition filed by retired Lt. General Avadhesh Prakash, who has been facing a court martial for his alleged involvement in Sukna land scam case. As soon as the matter came up for hearing, Justice Dalveer Bhandari, who was heading the bench, recused himself. Without giving any reason, Justice Bhandari refused to hear the case, saying the matter be listed before another bench and posted Lt. Gen. Prakash's petition for Thursday. Lt. Gen. Prakash was indicted by an Army Court of Inquiry for his alleged role in issuing of No objection Certificate to a private realtor Dilip Agarwal for building an educational institute on a 71-acre land adjacent to the Sukna military station in West Bengal. Lt. Gen Prakash, along with Lt Gen .P K .Rath, was facing a court martial in the case.

SC grants relief to anti-Sikh riots case accused Sajjan Kumar

The Supreme Court granted relief to Congress party leader Sajjan Kumar, who is one of the accused in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, saying it would not intervene with a Delhi High Court order that granted bail to Kumar in the case. The Karkardooma Court had issued a fresh non-bailable warrant against Kumar and slammed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for its failure to arrest Kumar and others accused in the case.Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Lokesh Kumar Sharma had refuted the plea of investigating agencies to issue a proclamation against the accused on the ground that he was absconding.

123 Agreement reflects deepening India-U.S. ties

Noting that the 123 Agreement between India and the U.S. reflected deepening relationship between the two countries, top Obama Administration officials said that it would have broader impact in the India-U.S. ties. The advanced consent agreement, the third such pact ever undertaken by the U.S. with another country, grants India advance consent to reprocess spent fuel of U.S. origin and fuel burned in U.S. reactors

India seeks consular access to 17 convicted

The Indian Consulate in Dubai and the Northern Emirates on Monday said it had sought consular access to the 17 labourers sentenced to death. 17 Indian labourers are sentenced to death by the Sharjah Shariah Court of First Instance in the killing of a Pakistani last January. According to UAE laws, the convicted workers can move in appeal within 15 days of the verdict. The Sharjah Shariah Court found the Indians guilty of killing a Pakistani national and injuring three others during a brawl for control of an illegal alcohol business in the Sajja area.

Rupee at near 19-month high on shares

The rupee rose to fresh near 19-month peaks backed by gains in the domestic sharemarket and weakness in the dollar versus major currencies overseas. partially convertible rupee was at 44.88/89 per dollar, its strongest since Sept. 10, 2008 and above its previous close of 44.9575/9675. Indian shares rose 0.4 per cent in early trade on Tuesday, with Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank leading the rise, taking cues from firm global stocks. The index of the dollar against six major currencies was down 0.14 per cent

Rana to go ahead with not guilty plea

Pakistani-Canadian terror suspect Tahawwur Hussain Rana, charged for his involvement in the Mumbai attacks, will not change his 'not guilty plea' and will go ahead for a trial, the process for which will start only after September.

Swami Nityananda quits as head of his ashram, its trusts

Self-styled godman Swami Nityananda, who was purportedly caught in a sleazy video footage, on Tuesday announced his decision to resign as head of his Dhyanapeetam ashram and from all trusts associated with it, living a life of "spiritual seclusion" for an indefinite time.

• INTERNATIONAL

Factbox : Moscow metro a Stalinist prestige project

Two female suicide bombers killed at least dozens pf people on two packed Moscow metro trains in the morning rush hour. The current death toll makes it the worst attack on Moscow since February 2004, when a suicide bombing killed at least 39 people on a metro train. The first known attack inside the Metro came during the time of Leonid Brezhnev, when a bomb planted in a carriage in January 1977 by Armenian separatists killed seven people and injured another 37.

Death penalty used as political weapon in China: Amnesty

The death penalty is still used as a political weapon in many countries including China, Iran and Sudan, a report released on Tuesday by human rights organisation Amnesty International. Methods included "hanging, shooting, beheading, stoning, electrocution and lethal injection,". China executed more people than the rest of the world put together in 2009.

Mixed reaction to Myanmar opposition party boycott

Many residents of Myanmar's largest city Tuesday greeted a decision by the party of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi to boycott elections with rousing approval but others blamed it for leaving them with little choice in the military-organized balloting. In a bold gamble, the National League for Democracy on Monday decided to opt out of the country's first election in two decades, following the lead of the detained Nobel Prize laureate who had earlier denounced the laws guiding the election as undemocratic.

Thailand's red protesters refuse more talks

Thailand's anti-government "Red Shirts" on Tuesday rejected the prime minister's offer of more talks and said negotiations had failed because he would not meet their 15-day deadline to call elections. Leaders of the red-clad protest movement have held two rounds of televised talks with premier Abhisit Vejjajiva but they appeared to make little progress towards ending weeks of disruptive mass rallies in Bangkok.

Japan industrial output falls for first time in a year

Japan's factory output has fallen for the first time in a year, providing further evidence of the country's fragile economic recovery. Industrial production fell by 0.9 per cent in February, following strong growth in January, official figures showed. The fall was bigger than analysts had expected and comes as the economy struggles against deflation. Separately, figures showed Japan's unemployment rate remained unchanged in February at 4.9 per cent. Japan's economy grew by 0.9 per cent in the last three months of last year, but the recovery has been heavily reliant on government stimulus measures. Prices in Japan have been falling for 12 months, which is bad news for economic growth as consumers tend to delay purchases until prices fall further.