| Jacko's
deadly drug cocktail revealed London:
The deadly cocktail of drugs, which apparently killed King of Pop Michael
Jackson, has finally been revealed. The name of the painkillers emerged after
police probing an injection, which apparently caused a cardiac arrest to the legendary
star, talked to a doctor about the details. And the doctor has revealed that Jacko,
50, was taking up to three powerful narcotic pain relievers at the same time -
when any more than one is considered potentially fatal, reports the Sun. Sources
close to the singer have revealed that he was injected three times a day with
Demerol - the painkiller given to him before his collapse at his LA home on Thursday.
He was also taking another painkiller, Dilaudid, and sources have said that he
had recently been prescribed yet another narcotic pain reliever, Vicodin. His
other drugs included muscle relaxant Soma, a sedative called Xanax and anti-depressant
Zoloft. He also took Paxil for anxiety and heartburn pill Prilosec. Yesterday,
police were trying to establish who gave him his final injection. According to
celebrity website TMZ, a close member of Jackson's family said the daily dose
of Demerol was "too much" and confirmed that the 11.30am shot caused his death.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles County Coroner Craig Harvey last night ruled out foul play.
However, he would not comment on specific drugs taken by Jacko until the results
of tests in four to six weeks. Naxals
cleared from Ramgarh in West Bengal Top Ramgarh:
Security forces on Saturday captured Ramgarh, an area under Maoists in a two-sided
attack to reclaim areas in West Midnapore district. “We have secured Ramgarh.
We will establish a police outpost and a camp. The police will restore normalcy.
The operations will continue,” said Inspector General CID (special operations
group) Siddhinath Gupta. Security forces had to face stiff resistance as Maoists
had detonated landmines and opened gunfire. Security forces headed from Lalgarh
in the south and Kadasole in north on Friday, towards Ramgarh on Saturday morning,
a senior CRPF officer said. Ten companies consisting of 1000 men of the CRPF,
the India Reserve Battalion and Rapid Action Force set out from Kadasole. They
had to counter firing and three landmine explosions Maoists. In response to the
Maoist attacks, the security forces struck back with AK-47s, mortars and rocket
propelled grenade launchers, the officer said. A mine detection unit and a team
from the District Intelligence Bureau preceded the security forces, which also
comprised jungle warfare experts of the CRPF. Maoists also burnt down an office
of the All India Trade Union Congress, when they were not allowed to take refuge
in the building shortly before the security forces entered Ramgarh. Chennai
hospital hostage drama involving ex-Guyana First Lady ends Top Chennai:
The 48-hour-long hostage drama at Chennai’s Frontier Lifeline Hospital ended on
Saturday after both the NGO and the hospital authorities reached an agreement
to allow the ten children with heart-related ailments to return to Guyana on condition
that the NGO would clear all medical expenses within the next six months. The
ten children were set to return to Guyana after heart surgeries. The West Indian
republic's former First Lady, Varshnie Singh, who is representing the NGO that
sponsored the treatment, was earlier not permitted to leave the hospital following
a dispute over the payment of bills. Dr. K M Cherian, the hospital’s chairman,
had earlier said that the patients would not be released. He said the patients
had paid the money to the Guyanese NGO, but the latter had not forwarded the payments
to the hospital. The children and two adults brought by Singh under the aegis
of the NGO, KidsFirst Fund, were about to leave the hospital on Friday night when
they were stopped by hospital officials who insisted Singh settle the bills for
surgeries before they left. The Guyana-based NGO has been sending children to
the hospital for heart surgeries for the last four years and used to settle bills
after they return, Singh told reporters. "We have come here five times before
and have always paid later. This time, the hospital gave us a letter about a week
after we arrived on June 9 asking us to pay," she had said adding she had ignored
it in view of the past practice. Singh claimed that she could not meet Cherian
as she was informed he had gone abroad for a meeting, but hospital authorities
said she had avoided meeting him on arrival. Hospital Chief Administrative Officer
Jose Manavalan said a sum of USD 13,000 was pending from the NGOs last visit and
the hospital had waived it. Ramesh
Pokhariyal sworn in as Uttarakhand Chief Minister Top Dehradun:
Ramesh Pokhariyal was sworn-in as the fifth Chief Minister of Uttarakhand
today. He was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor BL Joshi
at a function organised at Raj Bhavan here. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President
Rajnath Singh, senior party leader M M Joshi, Yoga guru Baba Ramdev and Chidanand
Muni of Parmarth Niketan ashram were also present during the ceremony. Three MLAs
-- Matbar Singh Kandari, Bishan Singh Chufal and Madan Kaushik -- also took oath
as cabinet ministers. Pokhriyal was elected leader of the BJP Legislative Party
after the resignation of B C Khanduri. He staked a claim to form the new government
after Khanduri resigned on Thursday owning moral responsibility for the BJP's
poor performance in the recent general election in Uttarakhand. India
beat West Indies in first ODI by 20 runs Top Kingston
(Jamaica, West Indies): Spearheaded by Yuvraj Singh's scintillating 131 of
102 balls, India beat the West Indies by 20 runs in the thrilling first cricket
one-day international here to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series on Friday.
The Indian batsmen scored an intimidating 339 for six after opting to bat at Sabina
Park. The hosts responded with 319 in 48.1 overs. For the West Indians, Shivnarain
Chanderpaul top scored with 63, while wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin played a sparkling
29-run knock. Earlier, Yuvraj treated the West Indian bowlers with utter disdain,
clobbering them for seven huge sixes and 10 boundaries apart from sharing a crucial
135-run stand with Dinesh Karthik (67). Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (41), Yusuf
Pathan (40 unbeaten) and Harbhajan Singh (21 not out) also chipped in with useful
contributions. With the wicket of Chanderpaul in the 36th over it looked all over
for the hosts but their lower order batted with steely resolve and made it an
edge-of-the-seat contest. West Indies required 21 off the last two overs with
one wicket in hand but Ashish Nehra removed Ramdin in the first ball of the 49th
over to bring a huge relief for his side. Ramnaresh Sarwan (45) and Runako Morton
(42) did well and got the starts for the West Indies but could not convert those
into big knocks. Jerome Taylor (21) and David Bernard (19), batting at number
seven and nine respectively did their best but their effort went in vain in the
end. For India, Nehra (3/49) and Yusuf Pathan (3/56) took three wickets each.
It was raining sixes as 23 of them were hit in the match. 20
K pound Mahatma Gandhi statue unveiled in Leicester Top Leicester
(UK): A large statue of Mahatma Gandhi was unveiled in this southeastern English
city on Friday by British Home Secretary Alan Johnson amid tight security after
internet protesters warned it could be defaced. Around 1,000 people, including
a large number ethnic Indians, turned up to watch the unveiling by Johnson and
Hindu spiritual leader Swami Satyamitrananda of Hardwar. The seven and a half
feet tall bronze statue is placed on five-and-a-half-foot plinth. Sculpted by
Gautam Pal and shipped from Kolkata, it was placed on Belgrave Road, a thriving
Indian business and shopping area in the heart of Leicester, a city known as Little
India for its population of 280,000 ethnic Indians - the second largest Indian
settlement in Britain after London. Local MP Keith Vaz, one of the main drivers
of the project - Indian Consul General Jordana Pavel, Leicester Lord Mayor Roger
Blackmoore, the city's second MP Peter Salisbury, several noted businessmen and
councilors and members of the charity Samanvaya Parivar, attended the unveling
of the 20,000 pound statue. Women broke into spontaneous singing of 'Raghupati
Raghav' and 'Vaishnava Jana to' - two of Gandhi's favourite Hindi hymns - as the
statue was unveiled before milling crowds. Johnson said the Gandhi statue would
offer 'comfort, reassurance and serenity to people in Leicester and around the
world.' "Inclusiveness and diversity were the cornerstones of Gandhi's beliefs
long before these words became fashionable," added Vaz. The statue was paid for
by the charity Samanvaya Parivar. Some locals who said authorities should honour
Leicester football hero Gary Lineker instead of Gandhi opposed the statue, sculpted
in the famous Dandi salt march pose. But the former England captain declared he
supported Gandhi for reasons of diversity. Lankan
astrologer arrested after predicting President's exit Top Colombo:
A popular Sri Lankan astrologer has been arrested after predicting that President
Mahinda Rajapaksa, would be ousted from office and replaced by his own Prime Minister
by September. Opposition supporters decried the arrest of Chandrasiri Bandara
as evidence of a growing crackdown on political dissent that has accompanied the
army's defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels last month. According to police, Bandara
told an opposition meeting last week that the Prime Minister would take over as
President on September 9, and the leader of the opposition would become Prime
Minister. According to The Telegraph, it was not clear what Bandara - who has
a weekly television show and writes a political column for a pro-opposition newspaper
- thought would happen to Rajapaksa after his removal. Bandara was arrested on
Wednesday night so that the source of his prediction could be investigated, according
to Ranjith Gunasekera, a police spokesman. Chathura Vidyarathna, deputy editor
of Irudina, which publishes Bandara's column, said: "He has not returned so far."
The opposition United National Party condemned the arrest, saying that the Government
was expanding a campaign to suppress the media. Rajapaksa's popularity has soared,
with some supporters hailing him as a modern-day king, since the army defeated
the Tamil Tigers last month, bringing an end to a 26-year civil war. Politicians
in his ruling party have gone so far as to propose giving him a second six-year
term without holding an election - or perhaps changing the constitution to make
him President for life. However, astrologers are extremely influential in Sri
Lanka, where many people consult them before holding weddings and other special
events, and politicians often use their predictions to boost their image. Pak
death row inmate Sarabjit Singh gets a new lawyer Top Lahore:
Indian national Sarabjit Singh, who has been on death row in Pakistan since
1991 for his alleged involvement in bomb attacks in 1990, has been given a new
lawyer to represent him. Lawyer Owif Sheikh will now fight Sarabjit's case and
will be filing an appeal to the court. This move comes after Sarabjit's lawyer
Rana Abdul Hamid failed to appear for Sarabjit's hearing on June 24. Sheikh is
expected to file an appeal on the grounds that the previous lawyer was not present
at the time of the court's decision to reject Sarabjit's appeal. Sheikh will also
request the government to abolish the death penalty on humanitarian grounds. Sarabjit
has been on death row since he was convicted for alleged involvement in four bomb
blasts in 1990 that killed 14 people. He was to be hanged on April one last year,
but authorities in Pakistan put off his execution indefinitely after Prime Minister
Yousuf Raza Gilani intervened in the matter. Fears
over Pak minister’s company financing terror outfits grow stronger Top Islamabad:
With the dismissal of the bail pleas of three employees of a forex company
owned by the Minister of State for Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas, Abdul Raziq,
it seems that there could be something more sinister than what really meets the
eye regarding the multi-billion rupees forex scam involving the minister’s company.
A Lahore court dismissed the bail applications of three employees who worked for
the Malik Exchange Company, after they failed to appear before it despite repeated
appeals. The court has also directed the FIA to launch a special operation to
nab the absconding employees, The News reports. Meanwhile, the company, which
has been charged of transferring huge amount of money to Pakistan’s restive regions
supposedly to help the extremists, has filed a petition in the Peshawar High Court
against the ongoing investigations regarding its nefarious links with banned terror
outfits. Intelligence agencies in Pakistan were shocked to find out that billions
of rupees were disbursed to the country's terror hit volatile regions through
Raziq’s forex company. According to the FIA, about 15 billion rupees were transferred
from 21 secret bank accounts of Lahore to different regions of the country, and
a major share of the money was sent to the North West Frontier Province (NWFP)
over the last seven months, where the Pakistan Army has been engaged in a fearsome
battle with the Taliban. It may be noted that Raziq was elected a Senator as an
independent candidate. He was apparently rewarded with the minister of state's
post, as he sided with the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) government at the Centre.
Raziq himself belongs to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). About
80 percent of the amount transferred by the three employees of the company was
sent to Parachanar, Hangu and other troubled areas of the country, and 15 percent
was sent to different areas of Kashmir. Only five percent was disbursed in areas
within Lahore, sources said. This trend of a large amount of money being sent
to the restive regions had set alarm bells ringing for the concerned authorities.
“This not only a national issue as there are international dimension of this forex
scam too. The outward diversion of these billions from the accounts of three employees
of Malik Exchange is worrisome for me. It's a matter of further inquiry at this
stage if this money was also being sent to Afghanistan,” the DG FIA , Tariq Khosa,
had said, Raziq, however, has denied his company's involvement in any illegal
transaction. A close aide of the minister also denied the charges, saying the
allegations made against Raziq were totally without foundation. “Those leveling
the allegations have vested interests against the minister,” he said.
Pak intelligence warns of terror strikes
on US embassy, consulates Top Lahore:
Pakistan intelligence agencies have warned that extremists may strike the
US embassy, consulates and other strategically important American establishments
in the country. According to an intelligence report, a militant named Muhammad
Ayub, who belongs to Quetta, has been assigned the work to carry out terror strikes
on US buildings, The Daily Times reports. The Interior Ministry's Crisis Management
Cell has alerted all the provincial governments regarding the impending threat.
Security forces have been put on high-alert in the light of the threat, and asked
to maintain a tight vigil across US establishments. Tata
says UK job cuts likely at Jaguar Land Rover plant Top London:
Tata Motors has said that more UK job cuts are likely at Jaguar Land Rover,
which sent India's largest carmaker to a thumping loss for the year. Tata Motors
vice-chairman Ravi Kant said JLR global sales for the 10 months to March fell
by 32 percent to 167,000 vehicles from 246,000 the previous year. “At this moment,
things are beginning to improve only marginally. There may be more job losses
and more shut downs of plants if required,” Sky News quoted him, as saying. The
drop-off in demand for Land Rover was blamed for sending its owner Tata to a loss
of 313 million pounds after tax in the financial year to the end of March. The
shortfall was Tata Motors' first since 2001 and came after a net profit of 271
million pounds in 2007-08. Total income across the company, which is part of the
Tata Group conglomerate, was 8.9 billion pounds. Out of that, Jaguar and Land
Rover accounted for 4.9 billion pounds. Tata Motors, which last year paid 2.3
billion dollars (£1.4bn) to buy Jaguar and Land Rover, in May posted standalone
net profits for 2008-09 of 125 million dollars, down more than 50 percent from
the previous year. The company said sales across the group were hit by the global
economic downturn, which saw demand and vehicle financing dry up. “The company
has actively responded to this changed situation by taking a number of urgent
and long-term measures. These include cutting costs drastically and working on
a plan of substantial cost reduction, aligning production with demand and tight
control over cash flows,” the company said in a statement. The company launched
the world's cheapest car, the Nano, at just 100,000 rupees (about £1,250) this
year. Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles are expected to be sold on the Indian market
from next week. |
