HSC exams on time: CMMUMBAI: Chief Minister Manohar Joshi has appealed to the R B Singh union faction (a section of the non-teaching staff union) to call off their indefinite strike and said that the HSC written examinations will be on schedule. However, R B Singh has dismissed such threats. He said that he was ready to call off the agitation if an order on implementation of some of their demands was issued. The R B Singh union has its strong presence in about 1,063 colleges in the State. Singh is expected to meet Secondary Education Minister Sudhir Joshi and Higher and Technical Education Minister Datta Rane on Monday.Blast accusedCHENNAI: S A Basha, leader of the outlawed `Al-Umma', a fundamentalist organisation, and 12 associates were on Sunday detained under the National Security Act (NSA). The order, which detained them for one year, said Basha, founder-president of the outfit, and his associates were found to be in possession of explosives when they were apprehendedin the city on Feb 14 following the banning of their outfit hours after serial bomb blasts had ravaged Coimbatore.Rao still hidingHYDERABAD: P V Prabhakar Rao, son of former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao, wanted in connection with the Rs 135 crore urea scam, continued to elude police for the second day. Rao, against whom a non-bailable warrant was issued by a local special court for economic offences in connection with the scam, was untraceable even as police teams were despatched to Warangal and other possible `hideouts'.Diabetic footwearHYDERABAD: A special footwear for patients suffering from diabetic foot ulcers and other sole-related problems was launched at the Nizam's Institute of Medical Science on Saturday. The footwear, custom made and with contemporary designs, would take care of the complex foot-related problems among diabetics.City tax upMUMBAI: Mumbaikars will have to pay more tax, hereafter, as the present street tax has beenincreased from 5 per cent to 15 per cent on the ratable values of the property. This was decided at the meeting of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation on Sunday.
