Briefly Nation

CEC to visit Bhutan for election talks

New Delhi: Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla will begin his four-day official visit to Bhutan on Monday,and hold talks with his Bhutanese counterpart Kunzang Wangdi on election management. Chawla will call on the Prime Minister of Bhutan Jigmi Y Thinley and meet regional election officials,during his four-day visit. The two countries had signed an MoU in May 2006 for cooperation in the field of electoral management and administration.

CBI traces NRI woman to Chennai

New Delhi: An NRI woman who fled from the US to India with her minor son and eluded the police from three states for two years was traced in Chennai by the CBI in a weeks time after taking over the case on Supreme Courts directive. The CBI team found the mother and child when they were shifting hotels in Chennai on Saturday and brought them to Delhi by flight. The two were produced at the house of Justice Tarun Chatterjee of Supreme Court,who directed the agency to produce them before the court on Tuesday. Vijayashree Voora,who is said to be mentally unstable was on the run with son Aditya Chandran.

Former minister expelled from DMK

Chennai: Former minister and DMK Erode district secretary N K KP Raja was expelled from the party late on Sunday following allegations that he was involved in a case of land-grabbing,extortion and criminal intimidation. The local police had filed a case against Raja for assaulting a youth,Sivabalan,and threatening him with a revolver recently. Sivabalan filed a complaint against Raja following which he lost his minister post.

Russian pilots hurt in air accident

Dharamsala: Two Russian pilots were injured while flying from Bir near Baijnath about 80 kilometres from here on Saturday. They have been admitted to a private hospital. It is learnt that both the pilots had come here to take part in a competition organised by a local paragliding association. Kangra Deputy Commissioner R S. Gupta said that the government had banned paragliding events and legal action would be taken against those who violate the ban.

Additional charge of Andhra to Bhardwaj

NEW DELHI: Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj has been given an additional charge of the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh by President Pratibha Patil. The additional charge has been given during the absence of ND Tiwari,a release from the Presidents office said.

Veteran Malayalam actress passes away

Thiruvananthapuram: Veteran Malayalam cine actress Adoor Bhavani,85,who left a deep impression on the screen and stage for over six decades,died here after an illness. Bhavani made her film debut in Mutiyanaya Puthran,directed by Ramu Karyat in the early 1960s. Since then,she has appeared in over 300 movies,mostly in supporting and comedy roles. PTI