Re-poll ordered in 4 Maharashtra polling stations
Mumbai: The state election commission Saturday said re-polling in four polling stations, of which three are in Mumbai, will be held on Sunday. The polling stations are in Malad west, Kandivli west, both under Mumbai North parliamentary constituency, and another at Chandivali Asalfa Pipeline Road in Mumbai North-Central constituency. Similarly, a re-poll will be conducted Sunday at Shrigonda in Ahmednagar Lok Sabha constituency. The polling in all these constituencies was held April 24 in the third and final phase of Lok Sabha elections in the state. The re-polling will be conducted between 7 a.m. and 5 a.m. The re-poll is being held because the Election Commission officials did not delete votes cast during mock poll drills from the Electronic Voting Machines. (IANS)
India test-fires Akash missile twice
Bhubaneswar: India Saturday successfully test-fired its Akash surface-to-air missile twice from a defence base in Odisha, an official said. The indigenously-developed missile, with a 27-km range and an effective ceiling of 15 km, was test-fired from the Integrated Test Range in Chandipur in the coastal district of Balasore, 230 km from here. “There are different conditions in which Akash has to be improved. Today’s test was one with incoming target and the second with receding or outgoing target,” test range director M.V.K.V. Prasad told IANS. Both tests were successful, he said. The 700-kg all-weather missile can carry a 60-kg warhead at speeds of up to Mach 2.5. It can operate autonomously and simultaneously engage and neutralise different aerial targets. The missile can be launched from static or mobile platforms, enabling flexible deployment by the armed forces. Developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation, Akash is being produced by Bharat Dynamics Limited as the nodal production agency with the involvement of Bharat Electronics Limited and a large number of other industries. (IANS)
Combing ops in TN forests to flush out suspected Maoists
Udhgamandalam (TN): Combing operations were intensified in Tamil Nadu forests to flush out suspected Maoists after a four-member armed gang threatened a constable with dire consequences if officials of three southern states tried to prevent their activities in tribal areas. Police said the gang, including a woman, barged into the house of a traffic constable Pramod at Mananthavadi in Kerala yesterday and threatened to kill him if he informed officials about movement of Naxals and their activities among tribals. The gang also set ablaze his motorcycle, they said. Following the incident, the Special Task Force, aided by local police and forest department officials, intensified combing operations in the border areas of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka, in search of hideouts of suspected Maoists. An alert has been sounded at six checkposts in Tamil Nadu area and the forces are on the move in forest areas of Cherampadi, Pandalur and Devala near Gudalur, they said. (PTI)
Voters to get ID cards a week before poll date
Dehradun: The Election Commission has ordered its officials to distribute voter ID cards among all enrolled voters across Uttarakhand, a week before the polling starts in the state on May 7. A directive to this effect was issued by the state’s Chief Election Officer Radha Raturi after she released the final data of voters as per the revised voter lists in the five Lok Sabha constituencies of Uttarakhand, official sources said here today. As per figures released by the state election office the total number of voters in Uttarakhand is 70,43,939 out of which 13,41,393 are in Tehri Lok Sabha seat, 12,32,120 in Pauri, 12,30,760 in Almora, 16,02,113 in Nainital and 16,37,543 in Haridwar. Raturi, who reviewed poll preparations in the state via video conferencing with officials, asked them to ensure that voter slips and voter ID cards be delivered among listed voters at least a week before the poll day. She warned them of stern action in case of any laxity found on part of them in this exercise, official sources said. She even said, in case, listed voters do not get either their voter slip or voter ID card, they can meet the concerned presiding officer who will allow them to cast their ballot after verification of their identity. (PTI)
SBT business grows
Thiruvananthapuram: State Bank of Travancore (SBT) had about 25 percent market share of the banking business in Kerala in the last fiscal (2013-14), with total business touching Rs.1,60,119 crore. The bank posted an operating profit of Rs.1,370 crore up from Rs.1,351 crore. SBT in a press release here Saturday said the overall business turnover stood at Rs.160,119 crore as against Rs.152,108 crore during 2012-2013 with deposits accounting for Rs.89,337 crore, advances Rs.70,782 crore as compared to Rs.84,624 crore of deposit and Rs.67,484 crore of advance during 2012-13. For the year ended March 31, 2014, the bank earned a total income of Rs.10,558.49 crore as against Rs.9,287.86 crore posted during the previous year, thereby recording a year on year growth of 13.68 per cent. Return on equity was 6.78 per cent and the return on assets stood at 0.29 per cent while an interim dividend of Rs.2.50 per share for a face value of Rs.10 was declared. The earnings per share was Rs. 60.87. The percentage of gross NPAs to gross advances stood at 4.35 per cent as on 31st March 2014 with the gross NPA level at Rs.3,077 crore. (IANS)
Police custody till April 30 for rape accused actor Inder Kumar
Mumbai: A Mumbai magistrate Saturday granted police the custody of Bollywood actor Inder Kumar who has been accused of rape by a woman, a legal official said. “We want the matter to be interrogated thoroughly taking into account all sides in the matter and the Bandra Magistrate court granted police custody till April 30,” Kumar’s lawyer Amarendra Pargaonkar told IANS. Kumar, 41, was detained and later arrested by Versova Police late Friday after a 23-year-old model-cum-actress lodged a complaint accusing him of raping her. In her complaint, she alleged that Kumar had raped her twice in the past three days after promising to give her lead roles in Bollywood movies, a senior police official said. The victim also alleged that she was assaulted and hit by a beer bottle by Kumar who kept her confined at his Andheri home. During custody, both Kumar and the complainant will be interrogated as there are counter-claims in the case. Kumar has acted in over a score of Bollywood movies, including the Salman Khan-starrer blockbuster “Wanted” and a horror show on television. (IANS)