2 priests, trustees drove temple official to suicide

The suicide of a young endowments department officer in the city on October 1, it turned out on Tuesday, was the result of unending harassment by a group of temple officials whose corrupt practices she had blocked.

The city police arrested five persons, including the board members of a temple committee in Guntur, for pushing G. Krishnaveni, 30, to commit suicide. Krishnaveni committed suicide by hanging herself at her home.

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NUTRITIOUS DIET Organic food still awaits verdict

The debate over whether organic food is better for our health and worth its higher price keeps raging on in the United States as the conclusion of four decades of studies seems far from clear.

The controversy was back in the news last month when a large-scale study by researchers from Stanford University found organic foods no more nutritious than conventional products, though they did have fewer traces of pesticides.

Researchers, who reviewed 237 different studies, did not find organic meats were healthier either.

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Purandeswari gets it for spilling the beans

In spite of announcing on Saturday that the Prime Minister had informed her about her “promotion”, Union minister of state Daggubati Purandeswari’s name was missing from the Cabinet reshuffle list on Sunday.

Ms Purandeswari had said that Dr Manmohan Singh had called her up and had informed about her promotion including a change of portfolio from the present human resources development to commerce and industry.

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$30,000 reward for missing baby

The Philadelphia police continued its search for the kidnapped 10-month-old Saanvi Venna (Sravya) on Thursday and along with the Telugu community in the US, announced a reward of $30,000 for information leading to the safe return of the infant.

Saanvi had been abducted by unknown kidnappers in a Philadelphia township on Monday morning; in the same incident her grandmother Satyavathi Venna, 61, was killed.

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DISCONNECT Women won’t die without mobiles

BSP MP Rajpal Saini has launched a tirade against mobile phones and has publicly declared that women and children do not need mobile phones!

 “Mobile phones only serve to distract them. Our mothers, sisters and wives did not have mobile phones but they did not die because of it. If they could survive without mobile phones, why can’t women now?” he said at a public function in Muzaffarnagar.

When asked to explain his statement later, Mr Saini said mobile phones should
only be used in emergency services or by politicians who need to remain connected all through the day.

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Yash Chopra, King of Romance is no more

As bashfully as a bud ding Romeo, he pulled out a stack of papers from his office-drawer.

“I write love poems,“ he said confidentially. “But that's off the record. As it is people think I'm an emotional fool. And the poems are very amateurish.“

Yash Chopra, in his late 60s then, read out moonlight-soaked verses that longed for a beloved to accept his love. Before I could comment, he blushed, “Please, please, I don't know what got into me. So will you have a cup of tea or coffee?“

The producer-directormovie mogul would be a more accurate description -went on to expound about his cinema which has more often than not circumferenced around that old-fashioned feeling called love. Fresh flowers, dew drops, billowing curtains, chiffon saris, antique silverware, Swiss snowscapes and Punjab's mustard fields would be a part of his oeuvre. Which is why I had asked, “Yashji, why so much gloss? How about some deeper substance in the love stories?“

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Woman's body found in sack

The body of a woman in her mid-20s was on Thursday found in a plastic sack near a dustbin here, police said. The victim appeared to have been strangled.= The body was recovered in the morning in north Delhi's Wazirpur area, police said.

"No injury mark was found on the body. It seems the death took place due to strangulation and the body was later dumped near the dustbin in Block-K in Wazirpur," said Deputy Commissioner of Police P. Karunakaran. The body would be preserved in hospital for the next 72 hours, he said. Police received a call around 8.40 a.m. after a sanitation worker found the body in the sack, he said.

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Aamir Khan honoured for 'Satyamev Jayate'

Bollywood star Aamir Khan, along with Star India CEO Uday Shankar, was Thursday honoured for creating awareness against social discrimination through the issue-based reality show "Satyamev Jayate". The actor says the award is special.

Aamir and Shankar were conferred the honour by National Commission for Scheduled Castes at a function in New Delhi.

"I feel very special today. I am humbled with the kind of love, respect and support that you people have given to me. This honour is not just for me, but also for my team who worked so hard on the show that we were able to understand it and present it to all of you," Aamir said at the ceremony.

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Two charred in train fire

Two people were burnt to death when a bogie of Solapur-bound passenger train from Hyderabad caught fire at the station on Tuesday. Two people were charred to death and six others were injured when the Sholapur-bound Hyderabad-Sholapur-Falaknuma passenger train caught fire at the railway station here on Tuesday.

The deceased were not identified immediately as the bodies were charred beyond recognition. However, one of the victims is a child.

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Yuvi makes it double

claim for a Test berth with a magnificent double century on a day the North Zone assumed total control of the Duleep Trophy semifinal against the Central Zone, being played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium on Monday.

Resuming the day at 346 for 4, North Zone added just 105 to their tally, 75 of which were scored by Yuvraj, to post a mammoth 451 on the board.

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Kejriwal steps up attack

Alleging that the Uttar Pradesh government was colluding with Union law minister Salman Khurshid to bail him out of the allegations of financial irregularities in an NGO run by him and his wife, activist Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday posed five questions to Mr Khurshid.

Maintaining that the allegations are not his but of the UP government, whose probe “proved the irregularities” done by the NGO run by the minister and his wife Louise, Mr Kejriwal said, “The matter was probed by the state and a report submitted on June 12 and sent to the Centre which issued a showcause notice.” Mr Kejriwal was addressing protesters at Parliament Street who were into their third day of demonstration demanding the resignation of Mr Khurshid and registration of case. “Already the issue has been probed.

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Lord gets 3 diamond-studded gifts

The Tirumala temple has received another lavish gift, this time in the form of diamond-studded golden idols of Lord Venkateswara and his consorts Goddesses Lakshmi Devi and Padmavati. The idols, which were donated anonymously in Srivari Hundi, are worth `1.25 crore.

There are 1,014 diamonds, 552 rubies, 197 emeralds and one big sapphire on the Mula Virat (presiding deity replica) idol. The size of the Mula Virat of Lord Venkateswara is about 14 inches and it weighs about 2.57 kg. There are 25 diamonds stud ded on the golden platform where the Lord is being placed, 90 diamonds on the Chakram, 112 diamonds on the Shanku, 119 on the crown, 44 on the Namam, 139 in three various jewels and 13 diamonds on the Lord’s waist ornament. The idol of Goddess Lakshmi weighs 101 gm and is worth about `2,92,800 and that of Goddess Padmavathi weighs around 81gm costing about `2,34,800.

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Centre scraps RIL's gas pipeline deals

The state government’s prolonged battle against Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Gas Transportation Infrastructure Limited finally yielded results with the Union petroleum ministry cancelling the oil major’s license to lay gas pipelines on four major routes.

The 2,175-km pipe lines were supposed to be laid along the Kakinada-Howrah, Kakinada-Chennai, Chennai-Tuticorn and Chennai-Mangalore routes.

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CBI will probe IMG deal by Naidu: CM

Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy said that the Central Bureau of Investigation would soon start a probe against Telugu Desam chief N. Chandrababu Naidu for allotting land worth `1 crore per acre for a nominal `50,000 to IMG Academies Bharata Pvt Ltd, a company “dedicated to developing and promoting sports, education, leisure and lifestyle”.

Recalling Mr Naidu’s statement that the TD’s nine-year rule was a golden era for the state and that the Congress was married to corruption, Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy said people would soon see the extent of Mr Naidu’s corruption.

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Vadra, Kejriwal in a mango war

AICC president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra on Monday deleted his Facebook account after he received unprecedented criticism from netizens over his remarks unwittingly comparing India to a banana republic.

“Mango people in a banana republic,“ Mr Vadra said in a post ostensibly to criticise anti-corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal. However, the post backfired as Mr Vadra appeared to compare India to a banana republic.

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Big Bang-2 opens up India

Unfazed by the political storm brewing across the country, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh went ahead to push through the second round of big ticket reforms.

On Thursday, the UPAII, in a crucial Cabinet meeting, cleared foreign direct investment (FDI) in insurance and pension and raised the cap to 49 per cent.

“The FDI limit in pension will follow FDI limit in insurance. If the insurance Bill passes with 49 per cent, pension will also be 49 per cent (sic),” Union finance minister P. Chidambaram announced. The Cabinet also cleared the Companies Amendment Bill.

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EXTRA COVER Gayle caught with bold and beautiful

West Indian star batsman Chris Gayle burnished his partyboy image on Wednesday when police broke up a latenight gathering in his hotel room during the World Twenty20 cricket tournament in Sri Lanka.

Gayle and teammates Andre Russell, Fidel Edwards and Dwayne Smith attracted the attention of police bodyguards as they let their hair down at the Cinnamon Grand hotel in Colombo.

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RABBLE-ROUSER Mantri in trouble for old wives’ tale

Union coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal found himself in a fresh controversy on Tuesday when his alleged remark that “wives lose charm over time” led to outrage, especially among women’s groups.

The minister, who made the controversial remark at a “kavi sammelan” in Kanpur, later offered to apologise if the “sentiments of women” had been hurt.

Continue Reading Story Deccan Chronicle Chennai

T-men go after eateries now

City streets surrounding the Hussainsagar turned into battlefields while Eat Street, Jalavihar, Ohri’s restaurant, including tourist spots of Necklace Road were damaged in the stone-pelting by angry Telangana protesters on Sunday.

Violence marred the rallies taken by Telangana organisations and political parties to reach the Necklace Road venue. Protesters clashed with police in various parts of the city at Khairatabad, Telugu Talli flyover near Secretariat, Buddha Bhavan apart from Osmania University, leading to lathicharge and tear gas by the police.

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