Briefly Nation

Khans wife Rheema appears before court.

Singhvi appointed House panel chief

NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha Chairman Mohammad Hamid Ansari has appointed Congress member Abhishek Manu Singhvi as the chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel,Public Grievances,Law and Justice. Singhvi,who is a Congress spokesperson,replaced his party colleague Jayanthi Natarajan,who has been made MoS independent charge for Environment and Forests. LS Speaker Meira Kumar is to name the new chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Undertakings soon,following the induction of V Kishore Chandra Deo. Similarly,the chairmanship of the JPC on Salaries and Allowances of MPs has also fallen vacant after Charan Dass Mahants inclusion into the ministry.

Congman says wants to quit Bengal ministry

Kolkata: Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday assumed the role of a teacher and gave a few tips to newly elected Congress MLAs in the Assembly. Mukherjee told party MLAs how to deal with the pressures of alliance politics while maintaining the identity of the Congress. At the meeting,Manoj Chakraborty,MLA from Behrampore and Minister for Parliament Affairs in Mamata Banerjee8217;s Cabinet,urged Mukherjee that he be allowed to quit the ministry as he was not kept into confidence regarding functioning of the Assembly. Mukherjee is reported to have advised Chakraborty to wait and that everything will be all right.

Khans wife Rheema appears before court

Rheema Khan,wife of Hasan Ali Khan,appeared before the Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act PMLA court on Friday in connection with the complaint filed against her by the Enforcement Directorate. According to the investigating agency,she had allegedly dodged the agency five times in the past. Rheema,who was accompanied by her son,has sough exemption from appearing before the ED. The court has adjourned the order till August 17.

Missing Jharkhand girls bodies found in Uttarakhand

DEHRADUN/DUMKA: The bodies of two teenage girls,missing from Ranchi for over a week,were on Friday found floating in the canal at the Laxman Jhoola area in Uttarakhands Pauri district,the police said. Nikita Kumari 18,who frequently visited the hostel of her friend Mausam Modi 19,had sent an SMS to her father that she was going to commit suicide. Her father had called back,but it was found switched off,they said. Mausams uncle Suman Modi said that members of both the affected families will leaving for Haridwar.

Two pistols found at actors godown

Mumbai: The Mumbai Police have found two country-made pistols from a godown belonging to Bhojpuri actor Anil Samrat at Goregaon in Mumbai. This was stated in a written reply by Home Minister R R Patil to a question by Prakash Bhoir of MNS and others in the state Legislative Assembly on Friday. Patil said that the Mumbai Police had unearthed two pistols from a godown in May. However,he denied that the weapons had Army markings. Patil added that a case had been registered and the accused had been arrested.

Khar unhappy with fashion icon image

Lahore: She might have captured the fancy of Indian media with her South Sea pearls,Roberto Cavalli shades and Birkin bag,but Pakistans youngest Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar is not pleased with her depiction as a fashion icon. Khar,who returned to Pakistan on Thursday after a visit to India,reacted angrily to questions pertaining to coverage of her fashion style in leading Indian dailies.You see paparazzi are every where. Besides,you referring to media should not do such acts, Khar said,replying to a question at the Lahore airport on her arrival from India.

2,750 detonators seized in Bihar

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SASARAM: Police on Friday arrested a person and seized 2,750 detonators from his possession when he alighted from a train at Dehri Railway Station in Bihars Rohtas district,official sources said. Acting on a tip-off,police caught Ravindra Choudhary when he alighted from the train,the sources said.

HC dismisses plea against Sanjay Dutt

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Friday dismissed a petition filed by film producer Shakeel Noorani seeking registration of a criminal case against actor Sanjay Dutt for allegedly threatening him. A Division Bench of Justices B H Marlapalle and U D Salvi said Noorani may approach the metropolitan magistrates court with a private complaint against Dutt. The magistrate can direct the police to lodge an FIR if he or she finds any substance in the allegations,the High Court noted.

24 Indians return from Pak jail

LAHORE: 24 Indians,including two women,languishing in Pakistani jails,crossed into their homeland from the Wagah border on Friday,as an Indo-Pak judicial panel demanded fast-track release of each others fishermen to save them from becoming victims of maltreatment. The Pakistani government,in a goodwill gesture on Thursday,announced the release of 14 fishermen who had spent nearly 15 months behind bars in Karachis Malir Jail,and on Friday,decided to free another ten. They had been arrested eight months back for crossing the international maritime border and entering Pakistani waters in the Arabian Sea.