INDIA

NEW DELHI: Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa , arrested for his alleged involvement in the 2G spectrum scam along with former telecom minister A Raja , was on Friday sent to Tihar Jail after a Delhi court remanded him in judicial custody. Special CBI Judge O P Saini remanded Balwa in judicial custody a day after Raja was sent to Tihar Jail till March 3. The Dynamix Balwas (DB) group managing director was produced in court following expiry of his four-day CBI custody.

INDIA

February 8, 2011 |By Shibu Thomas

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Monday said it would pronounce the verdict in the 26/11 case and decide the fate of Pakistani gunman Ajmal Amir Kasab on February 21. A division bench of justices Ranjana Desai and R V More asked Kasab's lawyers to inform him to remain present through video conference on judgment day. The court made it clear that the verdict won't wait for Kasab (who has boycotted the proceedings)...

NEWS-INTERVIEWS

Congratulations are in order. February 19 has been chosen as the day when Lara Dutta will marry Mahesh Bhupathi , who recently divorced Shweta Jaishankar. The wedding will be held at a five-star hotel in Goa. Says a source, "Lara and Mahesh love Goa. They both decided to convert their favourite holiday spot into a place that would be memorable to them forever. " After marriage, Lara will shift to Bhupathi's flat in Nibbana Society at Pali Hill.

INDIA

February 18, 2011 |By Shalini Singh

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh , in his interaction with TV editors on Wednesday, outlined three reasons for going along with A Raja's decision of 'no auctions' of 2G spectrum, apart from the fact that he trusted the former telecom minister's word that he was being transparent and fair. ( Read: Compromises are made in coalition politics: PM ) ( Read: Congress verdict on PM: Too humble, lacked the steely touch ) The PM said the regulator, Trai, did not want auctions and Raja went along; that the Telecom Commission had approved the decisions; and the finance ministry was in concurrence with the 2001 pricing.

INDIA

February 12, 2011 |By Chidanand Rajghatta

WASHINGTON: The flub, in the eyes of Indian officialdom, was minor; but the feedback was ferocious. India's external affairs minister SM Krishna, frequently under attack for not being up to speed in 21st century engagements, gave some more ammunition to his critics by inadvertently reading out the speech of the Portuguese foreign minister at a UN meeting on Friday. He cottoned on to the mistakes a couple of minutes into his delivery, but the faux pas rippled through the electronic world for hours, inviting both sarcasm and merriment.

GUWAHATI

GUWAHATI: Sivasagar, the home district of Ulfa chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa , is ready to greet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who will lay the foundation of the proposed Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology (RHIPT) in the district on Saturday. The Prime Minister's visit to this upper Assam district comes a week after his meeting with Rajkhowa in his office where he assured the latter of finding an honourable solution to the Ulfa problem, which would be acceptable to the people of the state.

DELHI

Charging Rajesh Talwar and his wife, Nupur, with murder and destruction of evidence in the Aarushi-Hemraj case, special magistrate (CBI) Preeti Singh said she was guided by the principle that there should be enough basis to take further action rather than enough ground to prove charges. ( Read: Judge relied on chain of evidence ) Here's the chain of evidence Singh relied upon in her ruling: 1. Only family & Hemraj at home (Read: Hemraj a victim too, but forgotten)

INDIA

NEW DELHI: The government is closely monitoring the "misuse" of social networking sites by anti-national elements in Jammu and Kashmir and northeast but has no plans as of now to ban them in the troubled regions. "We are aware some people are misusing these networks...we will put proper safeguards in place, take corrective action. But we are not for taking any hasty decision," said defence minister AK Antony on Thursday, on the sidelines of a function to mark the centenary of the Corps of Signals . This comes in the backdrop of some separatist outfits already using Facebook and other sites to inflame passions, while others eye the way they were used to mobilize people against the Hosni Mubarak regime in Egypt . The Army, in fact, has come out in the open to express concern about the misuse of social networking sites in the Kashmir Valley.

TV

January 8, 2011 |By Vinita Chaturvedi

Pakistani actress Veena Malik is busy rehearsing in India for the grand finale of a reality show, and hasn't still gone back to Pakistan. In-between her dance sessions, she gets chatty with TOI on her wedding plans and her fascination for Indian men... 'India ki Bahu!' The lady, who was unabashedly snuggling up to her 'close friend' Ashmit Patel in a reality show, and even smooched him without any inhibitions, says, "Mujhe ab rishta chahiye.

MUMBAI

MUMBAI: Income-tax officials on Thursday claimed to have detected documents revealing unaccounted wealth of around Rs 11 crore during their searches at the properties of actress Priyanka Chopra and photographer Atul Kasbekar . Documents seized during searches at the office and homes of the two celebrities have reportedly revealed a total unaccounted income of around Rs 11 crore. Priyanka and her father, Dr Ashok Chopra, have reportedly concealed income of Rs 7.5 crore, while Kasbekar, who runs event management firm Blink, did not reveal the details of his Rs 4-crore earnings.

MIDDLE-EAST

CAIRO: Just a week after he stepped down as Egypt's undisputed ruler for 30 years, a severely ailing Hosni Mubarak "has given up and wants to die" in his home country and has rejected offers of asylum in other states, a top Saudi official has said. The long-time Egyptian President Mubarak is "not doing well, but is refusing to leave his homeland," a Saudi official told American network CBS . 82-year-old Mubarak, who is suffering from health problems, turned down Saudi Arabia's offer to visit the kingdom, saying he was determined to see out his days in Egypt, Al Arabiya quoted a Saudi official as saying.

INDIA

NEW DELHI: A top official of CWG Organising Committee R K Sacheti was today questioned by the CBI over his alleged involvement in financial irregularities in the conduct of mega sporting event. CBI officials said that Sacheti, OC Joint DG and an aide of Suresh Kalmadi, was called in this afternoon and quizzed for about two hours on contracts executed with private vendors and other matters connected to the Commonwealth Games held in October last year. They said the OC official was asked to clarify his role in several contracts mainly related to overlays, hiring equipment and grant of work to a London-based company in connection with Queen's Baton Relay in 2009.