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High turnout as polling ends in Punjab,
Uttarakhand
Brisk polling was on Monday witnessed in the
elections to the assemblies of Punjab and
Uttarakhand that were by and large peaceful. While
Punjab registered voting at around 65 per cent,
polling in Uttarakhand was put at nearly 70 per
cent, officials quoting initial reports from
various constituencies in the two states said.
The key elections in Punjab and Uttarakhand,
which were being ruled by NDA governments, will
decide the fate of 1866 candidates including chief
ministerial aspirants Prakash Badal, Amarinder
Singh and B C Khanduri. Polling began on a dull
note due to the morning chill in both the states
but picked as the day progressed. Long queues of
voters, including large number of women, were seen
at the polling stations.
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Land scam: CBI arrests AP home secretary
CBI today arrested senior IAS officer and
Andhra Pradesh Principal Home Secretary B P
Acharya in a case relating to alleged
irregularities in land transfer and sale of villas
and apartments in a township in the state. The
township has been jointly developed by state-run
Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure
Corporation (APIIC) and Dubai-based infrastructure
firm Emaar.
A 1983 batch IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh
cadre, Acharya, who was the then Managing Director
of the APIIC, has been named by the agency in the
FIR and his residences were searched in August
last year. He was called for questioning at the
CBI office in Hyderabad and was later taken into
custody, agency sources said here.
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Afghanistan to press Pak for access to Taliban
Afghanistan will press Pakistan for access to
Taliban leaders during a one-day visit to Kabul by
Pakistan's foreign minister, with Afghan officials
hoping to ease cross-border strains and lay the
ground for peace negotiations with the insurgents.
Hina Rabbani Khar will visit Kabul on February
1 to discuss reconciliation and nascent plans for
peace talks ahead of a meeting between
representatives of the Afghan government and the
Taliban in Saudi Arabia. Khar's trip will mark the
first high-level meetings between officials from
the countries in months.
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India plans to settle Iran oil payment in
Rupees: RBI
India is considering settling payment for oil
imports from Iran in rupees, the Reserve Bank of
India deputy governor H.R. Khan said on Monday.
Khan said New Delhi was evaluating different
options to settle payment for oil imports from
Iran, India's second biggest oil supplier. "There
are different options which are being evaluated.
It is a bilateral issue. It cannot be discussed
openly," Khan said.
Earlier this month Reuters reported that India
and Iran have agreed to settle some of their USD
12 billion annual oil trade in rupees, citing a
government source, resorting to the restricted
currency after more than a year of payment
problems in the face of fresh, tougher US
sanctions.
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2012 Euro Football Ch`ships Trophy to come to
India
Football fans in the country will get to see
for the first time the 2012 European Football
Championships Trophy as it will come in three
cities to be chosen in an online poll. Three
cities out of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad,
Bengaluru, Goa, Kochi and Pune will get a chance
to host the coveted trophy.
Top brewery group Carlsberg, the official
sponsors of the UEFA European Championships -- the
world`s second largest football event, will bring
the trophy to India. The tournament will be held
for the first time in Eastern Europe -- in Poland
and Ukraine -- from June 8 to July 1.
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