IndianBox

New Delhi: A 26-year-old television journalist was shot dead in the heart of the Capital early on Tuesday morning.

Soumya Viswanathan, an employee of TV Today Network’s English news channel Headlines Today, was reportedly driving from her Jhandewalan office to her Vasant Kunj residence at 0330 hrs (IST) when the incident occurred.

Doctors who conducted the postmortem say one bullet hit her in the head. One bullet was also reportedly recovered from the tyre of her car.

Soumya last spoke with her family just five minutes before her death, police say.

The motive for the killing has not yet been established and police have registered a case of murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code.

In one of the biggest exercises of its kind anywhere in the world, over 25 lakh people marooned in the devastating Bihar floods are being evacuated.
The Prime Minister, Dr  Manmohan Singh, who made an aerial survey of some of the worst-affected parts, said the floods caused by the Kosi were a “national calamity”. At least 55 people have died so far. After his aerial inspection of the districts of Araria, Supaul, Madhepura and Saharsha along with the Congress president, Ms Sonia Gandhi, the Union ministers Mr Shivraj Patil, Mr Lalu Prasad and Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, and the Bihar Chief Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar, Dr Singh ordered the immediate release of Rs 1,000 crores and 1.25 lakh metric tonnes of foodgrain.

He also announced relief of Rs 1 lakh each from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund for the next-of-kin of the dead. A high-level team will coordinate with the Nepal government to find a lasting solution to recurring floods in the state, he said.

A senior Union home ministry official said over 1.52 lakh persons had been evacuated. “While one Army column has been deployed in Madhepura, two additional columns have been deployed in Araria and Supaul districts. Ten teams of the National Disaster Response Force and 56 boats have been deployed. Altogether 31,348 people have been accommodated in 155 relief camps.

Thousands of families have been forced to take shelter in relief camps and on highways, canals, railway tracks and other elevated places. Children have separated from their mothers, and women were giving birth in open spaces. There are people who are struggling to survive by eating stale rice puff and drinking dirty flood water. Knowing well the cause of the Bihar floods, as it occurred due to a massive breach in the embankment of the Kosi river in Nepal, the issue figured prominently during a meeting here between the external affairs minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, and the visiting Nepalese foreign minister, Mr Upendra Yadav, amidst reports that the Nepalese police were turning back flood victims.

As the government readies itself to notify the amended Sixth Central Pay Commission (CPC) report, IAF chief Fali Homi Major has raised a note of dissent on behalf of the Armed Forces, shooting off a letter to Defence Minister A.K. Antony, pointing out anomalies.  Top government sources said the notification implementing the CPC recommendations was likely “in a day or two”, with the Cabinet already approving it at its meeting a fortnight ago.  However, Air Chief Marshal Major, in his letter to Mr Antony, sought his immediate intervention to rectify the “anomalous situation” arising out of the amended CPC recommendations before it is promulgated by the government.

In a letter dated August 25 this year, the ACM, who is acting as the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee as incumbent navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta is out of the country on a visit to Korea, said if the anomaly was retained in the government notification on the CPC, it could “lead to demoralisation” of the armed forces as a whole.  He said it was “unfortunate” that the finance ministry was ready to implement the CPC “by introducing yet another anomaly, lowering the extant parities of officer of the Armed Forces of the rank of Lt Colonels (and equivalent) by retaining them in the Pay Band-3, while raising similarly placed civilian and paramilitary officers to Pay Band-4”.  Since the time the government set up the Pay Commission, the forces have sought a higher pay that matched the risk they faced in the line of duty.

Tirupati, Aug. 26: Actor Chiranjeevi on Tuesday announced the name of his political party, Praja Rajyam, amidst thunderous cheers from lakhs of hysteric fans and vowed to change the politics of Andhra Pradesh. Giving full play to histrionics, Chiranjeevi, the son of a police constable, recounted the difficulties he had faced as a child in an emotion-choked voice and charged up the crowd in the temple town with a few interactions before announcing the name of his party with a dramatic countdown.

In fact, Chiranjeevi waited till sundown to announce his party’s name and stretched his speech till then, so that the display on the giant screen behind him and 18 screens located at the ground would be eye-catching.  As the name of the party was splashed on the huge screens to the accompaniment of music, the 53-year-old actor got a handicapped person to unfurl a green and white flag with a red sun in the middle.

The roaring crowds surged ahead, breaking barricades and alarming security men, even as Chiranjeevi declared that he was entering politics to ensure social justice and development. Around 40 persons were injured in the melee.  “People want me to join politics,” said Chiranjeevi, who earlier entered the stage dramatically with his arms stretched wide.  “I am here to restore respect to politics. After spending 30 years in the glamorous world of films, I could have lived a cosy life. But I decided to be in your midst.”

“How blessed are my eyes to see these crowds who love me,” said Chiranjeevi, as people roared in appreciation.  “I am overwhelmed by your support. Now it is time for me to give it back.”  The actor in Chiranjeevi was in play throughout the speech, which was carefully crafted and touched upon all major issues though giving the appearance of spontaneity. “Mine will be a democratic and secular party, born from the hearts of the people,” he said.

“Its goal will be the contentment and happiness of the state.”  Though high on rhetoric, the actor’s speech was devoid of courage or imagination when it came to crucial issues. He said he was not averse to a separate Telangana but added that his first priority would be trying to end the backwardness of the region. He also sought more “brainstorming” to solve the Maoist problem and said the issue of backward status to Kapus should be examined thoroughly.

However, Chirnjeevi vigorously opposed the concept of Special Economic Zones and said land was meant for cultivation. “My top priority would be to make agriculture viable,” he said. “Even a soap manufacturer can decide the price of his product, but not a farmer.”  The actor said that only at few people were cornering all benefits in societies and major communities were being denied opportunities and added that he would put an end to that. He said he was also aware of the plight of the middle classes who did not get the benefits of any scheme.

“They can neither send their kids to government schools nor pay huge fee at corporate schools,” he said. Taking a subtle swipe at other political parties, Chiranjeevi said that his party had no rivals. “Problems are our rivals.  We have entered the battlefield but our battle is against problems,” he said.

Astrologers, numerologists and Feng shui experts say the flag of Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam does not fit with celestial rules

Purohits
Tuesday has always been lucky for Chiranjeevi. “He believes in Hanuman for whom Tuesday is auspicious. He announced his political entry on Tuesday, and also his political party, said Govardhanam Bhattacharya official purohit of Chiranjeevi.

Astrologers
Chiranjeevi announced his party at 6.22 pm, the time of Aarudra star and Khumbha lagnam whose lord is Saturn or Shani. In the ‘administration house’, Mars [Khuja] is in eighth place which is dangerous. When Khumba lagnam began at 5.56 pm, there was disturbance in his rally and police had to resort to lathicharge. His party flag has the red sun which symbolises violence. There will be lot of disturbances in his party and it cannot come to power, said astrologer Srinivasa Gargeya. G Veerabhadracharyulu, head of astrology department in Telugu university, astrologer Santosh Kumar Sashtri, and Narayana Sharma, numerologist, said the time and date at were not auspicious.

Numerology
Chiranjeevi announced his political entry on the 17th [1+7=8] and his party on the 26th. [2+6=8]. Eight is the favourite number of Shani and has never been successful. As per Cheiro numerology, the alphabet ‘P’ with which his party name starts doesn’t spell success. “Someone misled Chiranjeevi, 8 is not at all auspicious,” said Mr M. Ramana Rao, a numerologist.
Feng Shui
The flag shouldn’t have red colour as it may cause aggressiveness. “White and green signify peace and prosperity, red is not a good colour .This colour may cause aggressiveness. He should change it to orange shaded red,” said Inciyah Nazir, Feng shui expert.