Chennai, May 25: Veteran Tamil playback singer T M Soundararajan passed away at his residence here today following a brief illness, family sources said.

   The 91 year-old singer, who was the numero uno choice of Tamil cinema icons M G Ramachandran and Sivaji Ganesan, was not keeping well for sometime and had recently undergone treatment for breathlessness, they said.       Soundararajan is survived by his wife and two sons.

    Often hailed as the ‘uncrowned king’ of Tamil cinema, TMS, as Sounderarajan was fondly addressed, had rendered over 5,000 cinema and devotional songs and had been awarded various honours including the Padmashri and the state government’s ‘Kalaimamani’.

A highly respected singer hailing fromMadurai, Soundarajan had last sung in the theme song of the World Classical Tamil Conference in 2010, composed by A R Rahman.

    TMS was also known for his soul-stirring devotional songs, especially on Lord Muruga, with his most famous ‘Ullam uruguthayya’ (The heart melts) instantly evoking devotion even today.

    He had also starred in some films. But Soundararajan dominated the playback scene for nearly four decades in which he almost sang for all leading heroes of Tamil cinema.

  Salem, May 25 : In a rare show of unity at a public event, two AIADMK ministers and a DMK MP today flagged off a train from here to mark start of broad Gauge services on the 85 km Salem-Karur line.

   Ministers Edapadipalanisamy and Thangamani, along with K P Ramalingam, DMK MP flagged off the train service.

   Tamil Nadu assembly speaker Dhanapal and Salem Mayor S Soundappan were, as also a huge number of AIADMK workers and some of Ramalingam’s associates were present on the occasion.

   Sources said regular services would commence at 0630 hrs on May 27 and would be run on all days, except Sundays.

New Delhi, May 25 : Former President A P J Abdul Kalam was conferred with US-based National Space Society’s (NSS) Wernher von Braun Memorial Award in San Diego. The award instituted by NSS, a non-profit organisation dedicated to the creation of a spacefaring civilisation, was conferred on Kalam at the International Space Development Conference last evening. The honour is given to recognise excellence in management of and leadership in a space-related project, where the project is significant and successful and the manager commands the loyalty of a strong team that he has created. At the conference, Kalam spoke about space-based solar power, which is attracting attention as a potential major global energy and electricity source. He suggested the creation of the World Space Knowledge platform with a virtual laboratory for space industrialisation by US and India in collaboration with other spacefaring nations. Kalam said the virtual laboratory for space solar power can bring a possible, workable and optimum solution particularly for transfer of such energy to terrestrial stations.

New Delhi, May 25: N Srinivasan’s days as BCCI President seem to be numbered as a faction within the Board is planning to initiate suspension proceedings against him if he refuses to step down in the aftermath of the IPL spot-fixing scandal that has thrown Indian cricket into disarray.
Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, who was till recently referred to as Chennai Super Kings CEO before being disowned by the franchise, was yesterday arrested for alleged involvement in betting.
The development has left Srinivasan cornered and there is a growing clamour for his removal from the top post. But the Tamil Nadu strongman has not given any indication of stepping down on his own despite the growing crisis.
Rattled by his continued defiance, some top Board officials have started the process to oust him by getting him suspended and using the services of his predecessor Shashank Manohar, who has a clean image.
According to a top BCCI official, Manohar has agreed to take up the position on an interim basis till elections are held for a new President.
When contacted, no BCCI official was willing to come on record on this development.
Srinivasan’s term will end in September 2014 as per a new amendment in Board’s Constitution, which provides for a 2+1 tenure for the President.
It is learnt that four top BCCI officials have already spoken to Manohar on this proposal.
“Manohar has agreed to be the interim President till all the problems are sorted out but he doesn’t want to occupy the position for long. He would take it up only in a caretaker capacity,” the top official said on condition of anonymity.

Davanagere (Karna), May 24 : BJP Member of Parliament from Davanagere G M Siddeshwar today ruled out joining Congress following the rumors of him changing the political party.

     Spiking speculations Siddeshwar speaking to PTI said it could be the handiwork of “some miscreants.”

     “I am going to contest from Davanagere parliamentary constituency on Bharatiya Janata Party ticket only”, he said.

Lucknow, May 24 : The Uttar Pradesh unit of Congress today exhorted grassroot level workers to start preparations for 2014 Lok Sabha polls and asked them to make their presence felt among people by raising public related issues.

“The district unit presidents have been asked to launch agitations in their respective areas on local issues on regular basis and make their presence felt among the people,” UPCC president Nirmal Khatri told reporters here.

Khatri held a meeting with recently appointed zonal incharges, coordinators and district,city unit presidents at the UPCC headquarters.

They are expected to submit their reports on these agitations on a regular basis, Khatri said.

The new appointees have been asked to give details about their plans and strategy in their respective districts and zones besides setting up their committees by June 10, he said.

Sources in the party said reorganisation of the 83 units remaining after the appointment of 31 new district, city chiefs would also be taken up soon.

Patna, May 24 : Ruling JD(U) got a shot in arm with state Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) spokesman and a Congress leader today joining the party ahead of Maharajganj Lok Sabha by-poll.

LJP spokesman Shailendra Pratap Singh and Congress leader Gyandeo Mani Tripathi joined JD(U) in presence of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Bihar JD(U) President Vashist Narayan Singh gave membership of the party to the two at the party headquarters here.
The joining of the two is sure to give a boost to JD(U) in the Maharajganj bye-elections where a triangular contest between JD(U), RJD and Congress is on the cards.
Singh told reporters that he left Ram Vilas Paswan’s party because the LJP is supporting RJD nominee Pranbhunath Singh in the Maharajganj by-poll.
He said Prabhunath Singh has always “suppressed” weaker sections of society and supporting such a person was not possible for him.
Singh and Tripathi hailed leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and said they would work hard under his leadership in taking Bihar forward on the path of development.
Singh had unsuccessfully contested Assembly election from Amnour on LJP ticket. Tripathi had contested Legislative Council election on Congress ticket but lost.
The Maharajganj by-poll is slated for June 2. The bye-election was necessitated due to death of RJD’s Umashankar Singh.
While JD (U) has fielded state Education minister P K Shahi, the Congress candidate is Umashankar Singh’s son Jitendra Swami and RJD’s nominee is Prabhunath Singh.

Washington, May 24 : US President Barack Obama today described Srikanth Sri Srinivasan as a “trailblazer” who personifies the best of America and expressed confidence that the India-born legal luminary will serve as a judge in the country’s second highest court “with distinction”.

Chandigarh-born 46-year-old Srinivasan’s nomination to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, also referred as the nation’s second-highest court, was unanimously approved by the Senate yesterday, with 97-0 vote.
With his confirmation, Srinivasan has become the first South Asian to be appointed to the top court, amid speculation that he may one day be tapped for the Supreme Court.
“Sri is a trailblazer who personifies the best of America. Now he will serve with distinction on the federal bench,” Obama said in a statement.
“Sri will in fact be the first South Asian American to serve as a circuit court judge in our history… Sri spent nearly two decades as an extraordinary litigator before serving as Principal Deputy Solicitor General of the United States,” Obama said. Srinivasan was first nominated by Obama on June 11, 2012. On January 2, 2013, his nomination was returned to the President, due to the sin
e die adjournment of the Senate. On January 3, 2013, Obama re-nominated him for the same office. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, hailed the appointment to what is considered as the top court of the country after the Supreme Court.
Senator Mark R Warner, co-chair of the bipartisan Senate India Caucus, said he is delighted with the unanimous confirmation. Warner had introduced Srinivasan in the Judiciary Committee earlier this year.
“Sri is exceptionally well qualified and possesses the credentials, experience, knowledge, and judgment that this eminent position requires, as well as strong support from a broad range of colleagues in the legal community,” he said.
“The enthusiastic bipartisan support he has received reflects his effective work for both Democratic and Republican administrations and numerous well respected judges,” he added.
Congresswoman Grace Meng applauded the confirmation of Srinivasan. “What better time for this to happen than during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month… I’m thrilled that he has now been confirmed. I am honored to share this historic day with the Indian-American community and all Asian Americans and I have no doubt that he’ll make an outstanding judge.”
Indian-American Congressman Ami Bera said he is thrilled at the unanimous confirmation of Srinivasan.

Srinagar, May 23 : Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said the UPA government at the Centre should not be linked with the IPL spot fixing scandal as it had nothing to do with it.

“What has the UPA got to do with IPL? You can hold the UPA responsible for other things but in IPL, players took the money and bookies paid them…people gambled on it,” Omar, whose National Conference is part of the UPA, told reporters here.

Responding to a question about involvement of UPA members in the spot-fixing scandal, Omar suggested that the ruling alliance at the Centre was unnecessarily linked to every wrong that takes place in the country. “What are you talking about? Wherever you see any wrongdoing, you bring the UPA into it,” he retorted. Omar said, since there was no specific law to deal with spot fixing and match fixing at the moment, the Centre has decided to enact a new law to deal with the problem.

“The (Union) Law Minister and (Union) Sports Minister have decided to bring a new law, which will provide for strict punishment for (those involved in) match fixing and spot fixing,” he added.

Jaipur, May 23 : Accusing the Gehlot government in Rajasthan of not acting promptly in the sexual harassment case of speech and hearing impaired orphan girls, Opposition BJP today demanded a high court monitored investigation into it.

“Firstly, the case was kept under wraps due to the visit of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. Then when the matter came to light, the government took no serious action and there is still no statement from the Chief Minister,” BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitaraman said at a press conference here. “We have no faith in CBI, so the party demands that the matter be probed by a special investigation team monitored by the high court,” she said adding, “CBI must be independent, but the agency is being misused by Congress.”

Allegations of sexually harassing several speech and hearing impaired girls by male employees of a residential school run by an NGO here, came to light last week. Expressing confidence that the BJP would form the next government in poll-bound Rajasthan, Sitaraman said people will give a fitting reply to Congress. Refuting the UPA-II government’s report card on completion of four years, she said it was based on half-truth.

“Newer corruption cases are tumbling out every month, but the government does not say who is accountable for it,” Sitaraman said. She accused the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of misusing public money by launching the recent campaign for political reasons at public expense.

Accusing the Congress of not acting against its corrupt ministers, the BJP spokesperson said, “The Supreme Court issued notices against six Congress ministers of Andhra Pradesh government for corruption, but no action has been taken against them.

” BJP state vice-president Arun Chaturvedi informed that the party would organise ‘Jail Bharo’ agitation on June 1 in the state to protest against misuse of CBI. Claiming that the party’s senior legislator and Leader of Opposition Gulabchand Kataria was implicated in Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case at the behest of Congress, he added that Kataria is innocent.

New Delhi, May 23 : Finance Minister P Chidambaram today sought to assuage the stock market, after it declined by over 350 points, by asserting that there was no need for any “nervousness” and the participants should read the situation correctly rather than be influenced by external developments. “…there is no need for any kind of nervousness.

I am looking forward to June and the second quarter with much greater confidence. I think the Indian market should read the situation correctly rather than being influenced by something which is happening elsewhere”, he said.

The Minister was reacting to sudden crash in Indian stock markets in response to a statement by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke in which he had talked about scaling back of stimulus with improvement in economic conditions. The BSE sensex slipped by 365 points to 19,697.44 points during the intra-day trade. The markets later recovered. “We have been looking at what is happening in the market.

We think that Bernanake’s statement has been misunderstood or misinterpreted. “If we read the statement carefully, he has clearly indicated that he will continue with quantitative easing in the foreseeable future at about USD 85 billion a month or so”, Chidambaram said.

The Minister further said that quantitative easing is continuing in Japan and Europe and there have been no change whatsoever and the flows into India during May have been extremely copious.

Islamabad, May 23 : A bomb blast ripped through a bus carrying security personnel in Quetta city of southwest Pakistan today, killing 12 people and injuring more than 20, police officials said. The bomb, planted in an auto-rickshaw, went off as the bus carrying Balochistan Constabulary personnel was passing through Bhosa Mandi area on the outskirts of the city this morning. Deputy Inspector General of Police Fayyaz Ahmed Sumbal said 10 security personnel and two civilians were killed.

The injured were taken to the nearby Civil Hospital. Those with serious injuries were later shifted to a military hospital. Officials said five of the wounded were in a critical condition. Police officials said the bomb was detonated by remote control while the bus was passing through the area. Members of the bomb disposal squad said an estimated 100 kg of explosives were used in the attack.

Footage on television showed that the bus was destroyed by the blast. Debris lay scattered over a wide area. Local residents and rescue teams rushed the dead and injured to hospital. Law enforcement agencies, including the Frontier Corps and police, cordoned off the area and launched a search operation. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

New Delhi, May 22 : Apparently exasperated by BJP’s attack, Congress today said leaders of the opposition party should visit cataract camps organised by the government to “correct their vision”.

   “Even an opponent has to be a competent one…But they have a problem in their vision. They should go to cataract camps organised by the government and correct their vision,” party spokesperson Renuka Chowdhary told reporters here.

   Coming down heavily on the BJP, she said, “We lack a responsible opposition. History will judge BJP for the negative role being played by it consistently and persistently. They will be for the third time in the opposition after 2014 polls.”

   Speaking separately, Information and Broadcasting Minister and Congress leader Manish Tewari saw the BJP criticism as a case of “sour grapes” for being out of power for nine long years.

   The comments of Chowdhury and Tewari came close on the heels of BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley targeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the “failures” of the UPA-II government in the last four years and dubbing the UPA model as “structurally defective”.

   The BJP leaders claimed that the presence of two power centres and the Prime Minister’s “indecision, inability and silence” have led to an environment of “gloom and pessimism” in the country. They said there is nothing to celebrate for the UPA-II government on its fourth anniversary today.

   Tewari lamented that the BJP has touched a new low in politics by the way it has targeted the government on its anniversary. He said it would have been better if the opposition would have given its evaluation and assessment after going through the report to the people being presented by the Prime Minister today.

Hyderabad, May 22 : The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has reduced gas-based power generation target for the current year by almost 46 per cent to 43.6 trillion units, a senior official of the power body said. The official said based on the output last year and projected production of natural gas this year the target has been reduced.

“Last year the target was 80.3 trillion units. We achieved 64.9 trillion units. There is a drop of 19 per cent. We have taken the gas availability into consideration and fixed target. The same will be submitted to the Planning Commission for approval,” the official told PTI.

The CEA last year had said no new gas-based power plants will be set up in the country till 2015-16, as the natural gas output is expected to fall considerably.

The CEA in a letter to states had indicated that as per Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas’s reportsIndia’s natural gas production is likely to fall by 35 per cent to 27.64 million metric standard cubic meters per day (MMSCMD) in 2012-13 and may further dip by another 12 per cent to 24.22 MMSCMD in 2013-14.

Over 15,000 MW gas-based capacity is said to be stranded in the country due to non-supply of natural gas from RIL’s KG basin.   The gas-based capacity, which is lying idle due to want of fuel, comprises central, state as well as private power plants.

   The CEA is a statutory body responsible for technical coordination and supervision of power generation programmes ofIndia.

Mumbai, May 22 : A relative of the owner of IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings with whom actor Vindoo Randhawa, arrested in connection with the spot-fixing scandal, was in frequent touch, is under the scanner of Mumbai Police, Crime Branch sources said today.

“Vindoo made several calls to this relative of the Chennai IPL owner. We may call the person in question to ascertain the reasons why these frequent calls were made,” an officer involved in the investigation told PTI. He, however, said it was “too premature” to conclude that the relative of the high-profile owner of the Chennai franchise had links with the betting syndicate.

Asked if Vindoo had named any Bollywood celebrity who was involved in the betting racket, the officer said, “Vindoo is himself from the film industry and it is natural that his phone contains numbers of several people from the industry. We have not yet got evidence of involvement of anyone of them in betting or spot-fixing.”

On whether Vindoo was involved in betting or fixing in earlier seasons of the Indian Premier League, the officer said, “everything is under investigation.”   
The 49-year-old actor was arrested yesterday for his alleged association with bookies. Vindoo, winner of reality tv show Bigg Boss season 3, was allegedly in touch with some bookies arrested in the scandal. He was on many occasions spotted watching IPL matches and attending post-match parties.