Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Pinki pronounced the verdict in the case in which the convicts were also accused of plotting to assassinate former President A P J Abdul Kalam during his visit to Patna in 2002. Delhi police had also charged them with conspiring to attack the Bhaba Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai. The three Pakistan-based militants, Tariq Mohammed, Arshad Khan and Ashfaq Ahmed and two Indians -- Mufti Israr and Ghulam Qadir Bhatt -- were held guilty under the stringent anti-terror law POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act), which has been repealed.

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Obituary : Mrs Catherine D�Souza (89) Kallianpur A Ward

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Udupi:Dec,24. Second Nitte International Conference will be held at the Justice K.S.Hegde Institute of Management, Nitte, on 29-30, December 2010. The theme of Conference: Redefining the Roles of Business, NGOs and Governments: A Mission for a Better Global Society. The theme has been chosen considering its relevance in the international level, said Dr. M.S.Moodithaya, Director of Justice K.S.Hegde Institute of Manangement, Nitte. The first International Conference was organized on 29-30 December, 2008 at Nitte.

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Globally gold might be shining bright but the trend is reversing in India with the yellow metal losing some sheen over the last fortnight as the Indian marriage and festive season nears it close. With the festival and marriage seasons getting over by early January, February futures of gold were trading below the psychological barrier of ` 20,500 per 10 grams, compared to the peak of Rs 20,924 it touched about a couple of weeks back. But gold is climbing in global markets, as investors sought a safe haven from Europe’s debt troubles.

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State Election Commission (SEC) may have revoked the ban on liquor sale on New Year eve, the day the district is facing ZP and TP polls, bringing respite to the revellers. But, it seems the joy is shortlived for them. According to a recent order from Deputy Commissioner Harsh Gupta who is also the returning officer, if you are buying liquor more than a litre you have to register your name and telephone number, besides producing identity card or election photo identity card, pan card or driving license at the wine stores.

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The resilient Indian IT industry on Friday expressed outrage over the latest US law to increase the visa fee on its skilled workers to share the healthcare burden of 9/11 victims. "It’s a retrograde step targeting the Indian IT industry again to meet the healthcare costs in the US. It is a disappointing move," Infosys Technologies Ltd chief executive S. Gopalakrishnan told IANS here. The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010, passed by the US Congress late Wednesday, is aimed at raising $4.3 billion over the next five years by taxing goods and services sourced from countries like India, China and Thailand. "The latest protectionist move is inconsistent with the ethos that were exchanged during the visit of US President Barack Obama to India," Wipro executive vice-president Suresh Senapathy said.

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People in Mysore went to bed wrapped up in more blankets than usual on Wednesday night with the city experiencing its coldest December night in 117 years at 9.8 degrees Celsius. The Met department has also forecast that several places in north-interior Karnataka will be under the grip of severe cold wave conditions, while moderate cold wave conditions will prevail over south-interior Karnataka in the next 24 hours. The weather forecast for Bangalore city and neighbouring areas is 11 degree Celsius around Christmas. Mysore has never had nights this cold, except on February 14, 2006, when mercury dipped to an all-time low of 8.6 degrees Celsius. The average minimum temperature stays at a comfortable 17 degree Celsius, with the departure from average normal in the last 30 years being a good 7 degrees Celsius. But on Wednesday night, the city literally froze. The maximum temperature in the city during the day stood at 29.9 degree Celsius, which is not too unusual. But due to the severe cold spell, people shivered even after wrapping themselves with layers of woollens and sheets.

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DDA housing scheme is has come a boon for aspiring home buyers as it has forced even small developers in the National Capital Region (NCR) to dole out hefty discounts and freebies like cars, LCD TVs and international holiday packages to woo buyers. The DDA housing scheme 2010 has a total of 18,235 flats on offer, right from one-bedroom- hall-kitchen (BHK) to four-BHK. Many banks are already financing the bookings and the response from the buyers has also been quite positive. The DDA officials plan to sell as many as 25 lakh forms this year.The catch here is the number of flats on offer, which is almost three times the total number of flats that were offered by DDA’s in 2008. However, this apparent advantage for buyers is proving to be a hurdle for the private developers, especially the small ones.

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Kallianpur: Inter-State Cricket tourny to be held from today at Nejar ground. Ramnu 11 Nejar organising this tournament from 24/12/2010 to 26/12/2010 for three days.

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DUBAI - Muslims can take part in religious festivals of other faiths if the purpose of their attendance is to attract non-Muslims to Islam, a senior Saudi scholar said in remarks published on Thursday in the run-up to Christmas. Dr Ghaith bin Muhammad al-Sheikh al-Mubarak, member of the Council of Senior Ulema (scholars), said by attending festivals of other faiths Muslims could help to “pacify their souls”, according to local daily the Saudi Gazette.

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Abu Dhabi: Child birth charges will soon go up 100 per cent at all Ministry of Health affiliated hospitals if you do not have a health card, according to a circular issued by the Ministry. The cost of a normal delivery has gone up to Dh 5,000 from Dh 2,500. A caesarean’s cost has doubled to Dh 8000 from Dh 4,000.

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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Veteran Congress leader K. Karunakaran, who was four times chief minister of Kerala, died in a hospital here on Thursday, doctors said. He was 92. Karunakaran was admitted to the hospital Dec 10. His condition worsened on Wednesday. Affectionately called ’Leader’ by his admirers, Congress stalwart Kannoth Karunakaran was a master tactician who remained a ’King’ in Kerala politics for decades and at times a much sought after political troubleshooter at the national level. Considered a close lieutenant of former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, the four-time former Kerala chief minister has been credited with creating in the 1970s a rainbow coalition--the United Democratic Front(UDF)-- that has sustained itself on the support from different social, caste and religious groups as a powerful bloc to take on CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front(LDF).

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NEW DELHI: Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar feels blessed to have a ’son’ like Sachin Tendulkar and wants the batting sensation to carry on his innings for many more years and win the Bharat Ratna. Congratulating Sachin on his hitting his 50th test century, his avid fan says her blessings are always with the ’little master’. "Sachin treats me like his mother and I always pray for her like a mother. I can never forget the day when he called me ’aai’ (mother) for the first time. I had never imagined that. It was pleasant surprise for me and I feel blessed to have a son like him," Lata said.

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New Delhi: Even as citizens are yet to come to terms with skyrocketing prices of onion, tomato prices have shot up across cities by almost Rs 10-15, currently selling at RS 45-55 a kg. Prices of tomato soared to Rs 50 a kg in Delhi on Thursday double of what it was ten days ago.

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The World Bank has said it had agreed a $1.5bn loan to help India improve its rural roads, the latest effort to beef up the country’s infrastructure. “Improving the access and quality of rural roads is critical to increasing growth and promoting development in lagging regions,” said the bank’s India director Roberto Zagha. Although the Indian economy has grown apace in recent years, its infrastructure remains notoriously creaky.

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IndiGo, India’s third largest domestic airline will soon go international with flights to the Middle East and South East Asian destinations. “We have applied for licence to operate flights to international destinations when we complete the mandatory five years of domestic operations in 240 days. We hope to launch the first flights before September next year,” said Aditya Ghosh, IndiGo’s president. “We’ll be offering the best services to the customers. We already have 300 pilots and 500 cabin crew with us and we’ll be hiring more for this.”

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Christmas is celebrated today more as a sales frenzy than as the most important birth in history. Unfortunately, Christians are susceptible to this commercial mentality, and too many have compromised the message of giving. Often, we give useless gifts at Christmas, because it’s expected of us, and we feel guilty if we don’t. And the closer we get to Christmas, the pressure to give these unnecessary gifts builds & we feel depressed & unworthy if we can’t give.

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After a gap of four years, Udupi is all set to open its arms to the magnificent gala - ’Udupi Utsav’. The fest is a blend of cultural amusements and artistic ventures specially arranged to enthrall Udupians. The month long fest was informally inaugurated on Friday. The fest is arranged in such a way that all sorts of entertainment will be offered to the public. The fest will end on January 15. The major attraction of Utsav is the exhibition and cultural programmes. The expo represents the rich cultural ethnicity of land by giving impetus to variety of handicrafts. The expo consists of 150 stalls, entirely focused on ethnic and traditional artifacts of the area. Most of the stalls are filled with consumer items. Handlooms, handicrafts, Jaipur bangles, fancy stationeries, jute bags, food items, terracotta products and others are displayed in the exhibition.

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A trader in Jharkand today offered free onions on purchase of tyres while a noted humourist in Punjab plans to give this essential kitchen ingredient as gifts to housewives during Christmas as a way to flag people’s mounting concern on skyrocketing onion prices. As responses to the dramatic increase in prices of the humble bulb are played out in a variety of ways, the issue led to pandemonium in the Orissa Assembly. While the politically sensitive issue of rising onion prices literally bringing tears across the country, there have been unusual counter protests with Farmers in Hubli staging a "rasta roko" in front of the office of the Agriculture Produce Market Committee demanding that the prices should not be allowed to fall down. "We are offering five kg onion free on the purchase of a truck tyre and one kg on the purchase of a car tyre," Satnam Singh Gambhir, a tyre seller at Kalimati Road in Sakchi in Ranchi said. Gambhir is also the president of All India Sikh Students’ Federation of Bihar and Jharkhand.

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The Northern Railway collected Rs50mn as fines from 1.2mn passengers for travelling without tickets between April and November this year, an official said. Also, 425 passengers were caught travelling with others’ tickets. “We had launched a special drive from April to November but seeing the response, we will continue it during the winter vacations also,” said Northern Railway spokesman A S Negi.

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