Is Ms Mystery a real queen?

The long-awaited DNA report of the supposed remains of the Georgian Queen Ketevan of Kakheti has arrived. The report says the remains do belong to the 17th century but a DNA test of the queen’s descendants is required to confirm without doubt that the remains are hers.

Queen Ketevan of Kakheti was imprisoned by Shah Abbas I of Persia for 10 years after he conquered Georgia. She was tortured to death for refusing to convert to Islam and later canonised by the Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia (head of the Georgian Orthodox Church).

A team of Georgian and Archaeological Survey of India experts, in a joint effort, found the relics from under the window of an Augustine complex in Old Goa in November 2006.

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Sonia in Andhra Pradesh on April 7, efforts to bring Priyanka

The UPA chairperson, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, and her son and Congress MP, Mr Rahul Gandhi, will tour the state even as efforts are on by the party to rope in her daughter, Ms Priyanka Vadra, to give a boost to the election campaign.

However, while Mrs Sonia Gandhi is likely to tour the state on April 7, Mr Rahul Gandhi’s schedule has not been finalised so far.

Mrs Sonia Gandhi is expected to address election meetings at Vizianagaram, Nizamabad and at one more venue in Telangana region which has not been finalised. The Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, confirmed the date with this correspondent.

“Mrs Gandhi is likely tour the State on April 7,” he disclosed.

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Star hotels not fire-safe

At least five star hotels in the city such as Taj Banjara, Mariott, Golconda at Masab Tank, Green Park and Amruta Castle opposite Secretariat are yet to obtain the No Objection Certificates (NOC) from the state fire and emergency department.

According to fire department officials, they only have the provisional NOC, which was issued during the construction of the hotels.

“We had suggested some basic fire norms to them to abide for the provisional NOC,” said the district fire officer, Mr P.V. Ramana.

“The fire NOC is required if the hotels have to apply for further upgradation,” said Mr Ramana.

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Dealers for liquor-free elections

The AP Wine Dealers Association on Tuesday offered to close down their liquor shops till elections were over, provided the government reimbursed part of their licence fee as compensation for loss of business.

They also submitted a proposal to the Election Commission suggesting that the supply of liquor be rationed during election season so that its availability could be restricted.

The association state president, Mr R. Subba Rao, and the general secretary, Mr D.Venkateswara Rao submitted a memorandum to the Chief Electoral Officer, Dr I.V. Subba Rao, in this regard.

“We are ready to be part of the efforts to ensure liquor free elections, but the EC has to see how it can be done in the present system,” they told mediapersons.

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Kasab smiles, speaks English

Looking straight into the camera and showing no signs of remorse, the lone surviving 26/11 terrorist, Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, on Monday admitted to the special judge that he was from Faridkot in Pakistan.

Notably, he responded in English when Judge M.L.Thahiliyani asked him certain questions, scotching earlier speculation that he did not understand any language other than Urdu and Punjabi.

Earlier, police officials monitoring the CCTV surveillance of Kasab in his cell had said that the terrorist was reading the chargesheet, which is in English.

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A hung Assembly is likely in Andhra Pradesh

The Bharatiya Janata Party will play a decisive role in Andhra Pradesh after the polls as other parties are not in a position to get absolute majority in the ensuing elections.

I expect a hung Assembly as the Congress administration was a failure. At the same time, the Mahakutami led by the Telugu Desam is not in a position to win the hearts of citizens as Mr Chandrababu Naidu had adopted wrong policies during his tenure. And Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam will not be able to reach the magic figure in the multicornered contest.

In this scenario, the BJP’s role will be crucial and its support will be necessary to any party to form the government. This time, the BJP is all set improve its tally and achieve a double digit mark.

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4 Bachelor of Engineering students die in mishap

Four students of C.V.S.R. College of Engineering died and two were injured after their car hit a road divider, flipped over and was dragged by a truck.

The car was trying to overtake a motorcycle on the Ghatkesar-Uppal road. The students were returning home after college.

All the victims were third year students: Venkat (computer science and technology), Raghunath, Vinay and Dharmendar (all in electronics and communication engineering). Harish and Shushanth were injured and were taken to Kamineni Hospital. Shushanth was later shifted to Yashoda Hospital.

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Colleges worry over less forms

The applications for Eamcet-2009 saw a significant drop compared to last year ringing alarm bells in the minds of owners of over 530 engineering colleges in the state.

A hundred more institutions have also applied to the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to start new engineering colleges in the state this year.

While the due date to apply for Eamcet without penalty ended on Wednesday, the Jawaharlal Technological UniversityHyderabad (JNTU), which is conducting Eamcet this year, has received 2,53,346 applications for the engineering and nearly 54,000 for medical stream.

Last year, there were 2,70,000 applicants for the engineering stream and 80,000 for the medical stream.

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Sikkim symbol for Praja Rajyam

In the latest twist to its fight for a common symbol, the Praja Rajyam has reportedly come to an understanding with the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF).

Sources said the Praja Rajyam will tie up with the SDF of Mr Pawan Kumar Chamling, the Sikkim Chief Minister. The SDF is a recognised state party in Sikkim, and has the umbrella as its symbol.

Under the deal, Mr Chamling will authorise the PR president Chiranjeevi to issue ‘B’ forms for his candidates in the name of SDF.

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No free symbol for Praja Rajyam, says Election Commission

The Election‘ Commission of India has informed the Andhra Pradesh High Court that there is no provision in the Election Symbols (reservation and allotment) Order, 1968, to allot a common free symbol to an unrecognised political party even though it is registered.

The EC submitted a counter affidavit pursuant to a notice of the High Court. The court had issued the notice after taking up a petition filed by the Praja Rajyam challenging the order of the EC which left it without a symbol. The affidavit said a common symbol was allotted to the TRS earlier as it contested in local bodies elections and a by-election to the Assembly. Since the PR has not contested any elections, it is not eligible for a free common symbol.

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Central Board of Secondary Education to compensate for question goof-up

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has admitted to a printing error in a mathematics question set by it for the Class X board examination and said students who attempted it would not unnecessarily lose marks.

“There was a problem in this particular question. Consideration will be given to the students in the marking scheme,” M.C. Sharma, controller of examinations, CBSE, said on Sunday, a day after many students protested that the question in the third set of mathematics papers was wrong.

Calling the error a “typographic misprint,” Sharma added: “A panel of experts in the subject will meet on Monday. Accordingly, a decision would be taken on the marking scheme.”

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Maya, Jaya stay off Third Front meet

Power women Ms Mayawati and Ms Jayalalithaa stayed off the launch of the eight-party Third Front on Thursday raising the question of whether the alliance is a marriage of convenience.

The BSP and the AIADMK chiefs sent representatives to the rally, keeping a line to the front open and hedging against other options ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

But the former prime minister, Mr H.D. Deve Gowda, took heart from the token BSP representation.

“Mayawatiji has sent Satish Mishra as her representative. This gives strength to the Third Front.” Mr Mishra is Ms Mayawati’s key adviser.

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Zardari stands isolated

The powerful Pakistani Army chief, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, met the Prime Minister, Mr Yousaf Raza Gilani, on Wednesday and told him to resolve the stand-off with the Opposition parties which is threatening to plunge the country into chaos.

However, the President, Mr Asif Ali Zardari, hurriedly ruled out the possibility of a military coup.

Gen. Kayani’s move came even as the government banned protests in Punjab and Sindh and made moves to detain opposition leaders Nawaz Sharif, his brother Shahbaz Sharif and the former cricketer, Mr Imran Khan, to prevent the proposed long march to Islamabad to restore the deposed Chief Justice, Mr Iftthikar Chowdhry.

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Will Army take over Pakistan again?

Less than seven months after it gave up absolute power, the Pakistan Army might once again be thinking of “intervention” to set the country back in order amidst severe political crises.

A highly-placed source told this newspaper that the the Pakistani Army Chief, Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, had asked President Asif Ali Zardari to “improve things within days,” with the implicit suggestion that the general would have to think about taking over.

Gen. Kayani met Mr Zardari twice after returning from Washington. “If the political crises are not overcome, then of course we can understand what Gen. Kayani means,” the source said.

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United Nations bars Indian Air Force peacekeepers

The United Nations has asked India not to send a replacement for one of its peacekeeping contingents in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The bar follows some Indian security personnel facing charges of sexual misconduct there.

“An IAF team deployed under MONUC (UN mission in Congo) will be completing its tenure there next month,” sources in the Indian Air Force said. “The UN has asked us not to send a replacement.” The DRC government has accused Indian troops of abusing their powers and has asked the UN not to increase their numbers there. The UN did not mention the reasons for barring the IAF team.

In an alleged sex-for-cash scandal, around 10 Indian Army soldiers from the Jammu and Kashmir Rifles deployed in DRC were accused of having sex with prostitutes last year.

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Tirupati is high on terror threat

The Union home minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, has warned that terrorists might hit the temple town of Tirupati to create communal violence.

During a review of the state’s security situation with the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, the home minister, Mr K. Jana Reddy, and top police officers, Mr Chidambaram said the Intelligence Bureau had got authentic information on the plans of some terror outfits to attack Tirupati.

He asked the government to upgrade the security of the temple-town in the wake of the alerts.

“I suggest that you close some of the many approach roads to Tirumala and keep only one or two roads open for the common people,” he said.

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Lanka rules out ceasefire

As Sri Lankan forces steps up attacks to take control of a key Tamil Tiger’s stronghold, the government has ruled out any ceasefire and asked the LTTE to lay down arms and surrender.

Moving further into the last territory held by the LTTE, Sri Lankan troops on Thursday restricted the Tamil Tigers to an area of 55 sq km and killed at least 44 rebels in the embattled northern region, even as concern mounted on the safety of civilians caught in the war zone.

The Lankan Prime Minister Mr Ratnasiri Wickramanayake informed Parliament on Wednesday that the government has no intention to go for a ceasefire with the LTTE.

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Television footage shows poor security for Sri Lankan players

A new footage of three suspected Lahore attackers, out of a dozen who sprayed the bus in which Sri Lankan cricketers were travelling with bullets, was aired on Wednesday by a Pakistani television channel.

The channel Geo TV aired the new footage of three suspected terrorists with backpacks, one on a motorcycle, scurrying into a by lane near the Liberty Chowk.

“The footage reveals that attackers carried out the heinous act with full impunity. They started firing indiscriminately on cricketers’ bus at 8.39 am on Tuesday and managed to flee from the spot at 8.46 am,” a report related to the airing of footage on the channel’s website said.

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Lanka takes hit, Pakistan stumped

Eight people,including six policemen and two civilians, were killed and six players of the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team were injured when masked terrorists ambushed the cricketers near Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium at about 9 am.

The ambush, similar in style to the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, stunned a world already trying to deal with an uncontrollable militant element that is threatening to destabilise Pakistan.

Pakistani forces have been battling a wave of militancy in its northwest regions, considered by many to be a safe haven for Al Qaeda.

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Andhra Pradesh polls on April 16, 23

The great Indian electoral roadshow has begun! With the two major national parties — Congress and BJP — busy stitching up alliances and wooing regional satraps, the Election Commission announced on Monday afternoon that the country would go to the polls in five phases from April 16 to May 13 to elect a new Lok Sabha.

Andhra Pradesh will have elections to the 294 seat Assembly on April 16 and April 23, dates on which the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state will go to the polls. Assembly elections will also be held in Orissa and Sikkim.

All the 22 Lok Sabha constituencies in Telangana and North Andhra along with their Assembly segments will go to the polls on April 16. The remaining 20 LS seats and their Assembly segments will see elections on April 23. Counting of votes throughout the country will be taken up on May 16. The trends will be clear by noon, and most results are expected by late that night.

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Rajasthan runs out Indian Premier League boss

BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi’s long reign as Rajasthan’s cricket boss ended on Sunday when he lost an acrimonious election to IAS officer Sanjay Dixit by 13 votes to 18.

The IPL boss’ entire list of nominees was wiped out, failing to win any of the 21 posts for which elections were held.

Mr Modi accused the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan of engineering his defeat.

“I paid the price for being close to Vasundhara Raje (Rajasthan’s former BJP CM). The state government did whatever it could to defeat me,” Mr Modi said.

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