Lawyers explain that 10.30 am is peak hour at this gate, which is used by litigants to enter and exit the courts. On Wednesdays there are more of them a it is a day for public interest litigations. This gate is crowded as entry passes are given out here. It is also the entrance closest to the parking area.

Lawyers said the blast could be heard at the Patiala House two or three kilometers away. Kavita, an eyewitness said she was in a judge’s chamber when she heard the blast. “The windows rattled she said.”

Early reports say the explosives were kept in a briefcase near the gate. At least 24 people have been injured. Most of the wounded have been taken to RML hospital.

The legal fraternity has not forgotten another blast a few months ago outside Gate no 7 of the Delhi High Court. That blast was of a lower intensity and caused lesser damage.

By Kuldeep saini

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The peak of irony was when Anna was, allegedly, lodged in the same jail that housed the people who were responsible for two of the biggest scams in the country ever. How must the authorities have felt when they saw Raja and Kalmadi fill their plates while Anna was on a fast because of their misdeeds?

Corruption has become an unavoidable part of politics and every now and then, one or the other politician re-affirms this fact.

Here is our pick of the 10 most corrupt politicians of India.

Suresh Kalmadi, almost single handedly caused a loss of hundreds of crores of rupees to the country. The Commonwealth Games, organized by Kalmadi was no less than a loot with numerous reports of the magnum opus event being soaked in corruption making headlines way before the Games had even started. Apparently, out of Rs. 70000 crores spent on the Games, only half of the amount was actually spent. Owing to his involvement in the scam, Kalmadi was charged with corruption and sent to Tihar jail.

A. Raja

A scam worth Rs. 176,000 crore had former Union Cabinet Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Andimuthu Raja at the centre. A. Raja as he is generally called, was the prime accused in the 2G spectrum scam, which was the largest that the country had seen in a long time. Following the shocking exposure, Raja was indicted and forced to resign. Presently, he is too has been lodged at the Tihar jail and is awaiting his trial.

Mayawati:

has always been criticized for ostentatious display of power in her state. She has allegedly used her status as chief minister to amass large amounts of personal wealth. She was charged with corruption when the Taj Heritage Corridor Case was uncovered. Mayawati’s birthdays have always been media events, where she usually appears decked in diamond jewellery and also accepts public donations for which, she often comes under fire. Her assets are worth millions of dollars and in the year 2007-08, she had paid an income tax of Rs. 26 crores, which placed her amongst the top 20 taxpayers of the year.

Lalu Prasad Yadav

The fact that Lalu Prasad Yadav has been an accused in 63-odd cases serves for the fact that Lalu stands as one of the strongest competitor in the list. The biggest scam that rocked Lalu’s political career was the fodder scam which involved the embezzlement of Rs. 950 crore approximately. The accusation of nepotism against him has come up time and again but hardly any action has been taken against him owing to his ‘connections’ in the government.

Madhu Koda

Former Jharkand Chief Minister, and only the third independent legislator to assume the office of chief minister in India, Madhu Koda was responsible for a scam worth over Rs. 4000 crore. The man exploited the state’s natural resources by licensing illegal mining leases and stashing away the wealth amassed during the undertaking. Furthermore, the Maoists received a 30% share of the booty. Koda was arrested on charges of money laundering and is still in prison following the rejection of numerous bail applications.

Mulayam Singh Yadav

Mulayam Singh Yadav is also known as one of the most corrupt ministers in the country despite not being directly involved in any major scams. Apart from his name being involved in appointments of tainted officers and mishandling of his power as chief minister, Mulayam Singh had one major allegation levelled against him– accumulation of disproportionate assets. The case drew limelight on his sons and daughter-in-law as they too were holders of the assests that amounted to crores of rupees.

Karunanidhi

The corruptions charges against M. Karunanidhi are so many that he is often referred to as the king or emperor of corruption. He was accused of lending support to the LTTE and was indicted for abetting the LTTE in the interim report which oversaw the investigation into Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination.

Karunanidhi reportedly institutionalized corruption in the South. He was a leading player in the cash for votes scams that are common in the southern region, as well as notorious foe extreme nepotism shown under his rule. Not so surprising, is the fact that the main accused in the 2G scam, A, Raja, considers him to be his mentor.

Sharad Pawar

Very few people can miss the cosy relationship that Sharad Pawar shares with power and money.Every now and then, Pawar draws flak for alleged investments made by him and his family in various illegal projects. He was named by Abdul Karim Telgi, during a narcoanalysis test, stating that it was Pawar’s brainchild to print fake stamp papers across the country and mint money. He was also accused in a multi-crore scam involving wheat imports and institutions headed by him and his close associates were served notices by the Bombay High Court for showing favoritism to his family.

Jayalalithaa

The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu has a staggering 46 corruption cases against her. Amongst the various scams were the Rs. 70 million coal import scam, Tansi land deal case, case of disproportionate assets and colour TV case, amongst many others. A raid in her residence and business establishments led to the seizure of some 28 kg of jewellery (worth Rs 51 crore), 91 wrist-watches, 41 air-conditioners, 10,500 sarees, 750 pairs of footwears, etc. She along with her former cabinet colleagues and senior bureaucrats who worked with her are still facing investigation with regard to corruption.

BS Yeddyurappa

The most recent politician -meet-the-top-10-young-politicians-of-india.html to be caught in the web of corruption is former Chief Minister of Karnataka, B. S. Yeddyurappa. While he has a number of corruption lying against him, the one that toppled his career was his alleged involvement in the illegal iron ore export scam in districts of Karnataka. A lot of blame game followed and ended up with Yeddyurappa losing his ministerial post last month. Despite his denial, his image as one of the most corrupt politicians of the country will not fade anytime soon

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India will become a USD 5.6 trillion economy by 2020, according to research firm Dun & Bradstreet, which has predicted a three-fold jump in the country’s GDP from USD 1.7 trillion last fiscal on the back of rapid investment and growing consumer expenditure.

“Indian economy will become a USD 5.6 trillion economy by fiscal 2020, at current market price, from the USD 1.73 trillion in fiscal 2010-11,” Dun & Bradstreet India Senior Economist Arun Singh said.

The rate of investment, consumer expenditure and infrastructure spending will be the driving force behind the country’s economic growth over the next 10 years, he said, adding that these conclusions are part of a D&B report — titled, ‘India 2020′ — which is scheduled to be released on Thursday.

The share of discretionary spending is projected to increase considerably to 72 per cent of private consumption expenditure from around 60 per cent in FY’10.

Besides, the share of the services sector is expected to surge from 57.3 per cent of the GDP in FY’10 to 61.8 per cent in FY’20.

Another major contributor to the growth would be rapid investment in the infrastructure area.

Infrastructure sector spending is expected to rise to 12.1 per cent of the GDP by FY’20 from around 7 per cent of the GDP in FY’11.

In terms of regions, eight states — Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh — would contribute 71 per cent of the total GDP in the next 10 years, as compared to 66 per cent in FY’10.

Further, the report said Maharashtra, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh will be amongst the most developed states in the country by 2020 and would together contribute 32 per cent to the overall GDP.

The BIMAROU states (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa & Uttar Pradesh) are also expected to contribute significantly to India’s growth story during the current decade.

The contribution of BIMAROU states will be about 24 per cent of the GDP by FY’20, as compared to 21 per cent during FY’10, Singh said.

Notably, four of the five BIMAROU states are expected to see a double-digit average growth over the current decade.

Apart from the investment rate, consumer expenditure and infrastructure spending, growth would also hinge on effective policy measures that would encourage sectors like manufacturing and retail.

“At the policy end, direct cash subsidy, NREGA, UID, environment and national manufacturing policies, FDI in some of the sectors such as retail and insurance, would play a pertinent role in India’s growth story,” Singh added.

He further said coordination between the state and central governments would help in removing bottlenecks to growth.

When asked whether inflation and hardening of interest rates would play spoilsport to growth, Singh said, “In a short term, definitely, this is cause for concern… But we have seen a moderate economic growth in India. The story is so far quite encouraging. If we remove that fiscal 2011-12, we are at better position compared to our counterparts.”

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Encouraged by the marginal decline in rate of price rise to 9.22 per cent in July, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said inflation pressure would ease further on back of good monsoon.

“I am quite confident that good monsoon will ensure moderation of inflationary pressure,” he told reporters pointing out that the government and the Reserve Bank are working in tandem to contain prices.

“Inflationary pressure is in the system and we shall have to make effort to have the inflationary pressure at an acceptable moderate level for which we are working in tandem with the Reserve Bank,” Mukherjee told reporters in New Delhi.

His comments came after release of data which reported headline inflation for July at 9.22 per cent, down from 9.44 per cent in June.

“The measures taken to remove supply constraints in some of the agricultural products and the monetary policy adopted by the RBI will help bring about moderation of inflationary pressure and at the same time it will ensure the average ratio of liquidity of the legitimate credit requirement of the industry and other sectors…,” Mukherjee said.

He pointed to the decline in inflation of both food and non-food primary articles in July and termed its as “good news”.

Commenting on the July numbers, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said inflation still continues to remain high.

“There is slight decline in inflation. It is still on high side. We have to be vigilant. Its good that it is gradually declining,” Ahluwalia said.

As per data released by government on Tuesday, prices of food articles went up by 8.19 per cent in July year-on-year, which is lower than the 8.38 per cent inflation recorded in June.

Inflation in overall primary articles, which have a share of over 20 per cent in the WPI basket, stood at 11.30 per cent in July, down from 12.22 per cent in June.

However, prices of manufactured products, which have a weight of around 65 per cent in the WPI basket, went up by 7.49 per cent year-on-year in July.

Inflation in manufactured products has been steadily rising since February this year, when it crossed the 6 per cent mark.

It was 7.43 per cent in June.

The index for the fuel and power segment stood at 12.04 per cent year-on-year in July, down from 12.85 per cent in the previous month.

The index has a weight of almost 15 per cent in the WPI basket.

In addition, inflation in non-food primary articles moderated to 15.51 per cent in July from 18.57 per cent in June.

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The 73-year-old Gandhian was taken into custody from Supreme Enclave in Mayur Vihar, Phase-I before he was to proceed to the venue of his fast in J P Park where prohibitory orders are in place.

According to sources, senior police officials, including DCP (Crime) Ashok Chand, met with Hazare this morning at his apartment where he was staying in a bid to convince him to not go ahead with his planned protest defying prohibitory orders at JP Park.

However, Hazare turned down the request and told police that he will “defy orders” following which he was detained.

“We have detained him as he did not budge from his position of defying prohibitory orders,” police official said.

Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi were also detained. Bedi was detained from Raj Ghat.

Flaying the police move, Bedi said, “Emergency has revisited the country.”

“This detention is undemocratic and unconstitutional,” she said.

Prohibitory orders have been clamped from MG Marg, Raj Ghat to Guru Nanak Chowk.

Around 500 supporters were with Anna at the time of his detention.

Civil Society core team member Prashant Bhushan denounced government’s move calling it undemocratic and said that he would approach court today.

Chanting ‘Bharat Mata ki jai’ and ‘Vande Matram,’ supporters created hurdles in the way of the police which were trying to take him to a nearby police station.

Ahead of the proposed fast by the Gandhian, a group of people had thronged the east Delhi apartment where Hazare was staying to pledge their support to his protest.

Security personnel, including some in plain clothes and some from the special branch, were deployed around the apartment premise.

Around 500 police personnel have been deployed from early morning itself after the city police imposed Section 144 around the park, police sources said.

Hazare had on Monday asked his supporters to fill up jails across the country if he was arrested after being denied permission to hold fast here.

After Prime Minister Manmohan Singh slammed him for resorting to fast as a protest when Parliament was seized of the lokpal bill, the Gandhian had said he will go to JP park despite Delhi police imposing prohibitory orders.

“I come to understand that I will be refused permission. We will go there. If I am arrested, I will continue my hunger strike in jail. If I am released, I will go back to the venue and this circle will continue,” he had said.

He said once he is arrested, people should fill up the jails in every village across the country. “Going to jail for the country is no crime…It is a decoration,” he said.

Delhi Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat had said that prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC has been imposed in some areas of Daryaganj and IP police stations, which include Jai Prakash Narain Park and Shaheed Park.

Hazare had also accused the Prime Minister of “speaking” the language of his ministerial colleague Kapil Sibal, saying the lokpal bill was before Parliament which will take the call.

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The overnight pair of Cook (206 batting) and Eoin Morgan (66 batting) were unseparated till lunch as the hosts look determined to bat the visitors out of this match.

The two have so far added 129 runs for the fourth wicket and their first innings lead has swelled to 279 runs.

Resuming at the overnight score of 456 for 3, England still couldn’t bat briskly in the curtailed morning session as they added 47 runs from 18-odd overs this morning.

A slight drizzle in the first hour held up the play for 27 minutes. Later, it began to rain with 20 minutes still left for the break.

England’s slow progress has a lot to do with the spirited first spells from Praveen Kumar and Ishant Sharma who operated from the two ends. Praveen bowled seven overs for 17 runs while Sharma bowled his five overs for 11 runs.

At one stretch, England had made only 22 runs from the first 10 overs of the morning session.

Cook, batting on 182, completed his double century with a flick for two off Sreesanth. His hard grind took him 538 minutes and 378 balls and contained 27 fours.

Following his unbeaten 235 against Australia last winter, this is the second double century in 71 Test matches.

Morgan’s 50 took him 73 balls and was studded with seven fours. With 20 minutes left for the lunch interval, a quick spell of showers once again forced the players indoors but the Indians truly were not complaining.

It was later announced that an early lunch was taken and the resumption would be at 1.30 p.m local time.

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Industrial growth in the country revived moderately to 8.8 per cent in June this year on the back of a smart recovery in the manufacturing sector and better offtake of capital goods.

Growth in factory output, as measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), stood at 7.4 per cent in June last year, as per government data released in New Delhi.

During the first quarter (April-June) this fiscal, IIP growth stood at 6.8 per cent, as against 9.6 per cent in the corresponding three-month period last year.

Output of the manufacturing sector, which constitutes over 75 per cent of the index, grew by 10 per cent in June, 2011, compared to 7.9 per cent in the same month last year.

Offtake of capital goods jumped by 37.7 per cent in June, 2011, in comparison to a growth of merely 3.7 per cent in the previous year.

Similarly, electricity production also improved, witnessing a growth of 7.9 per cent during the month under review, as compared to a growth of 3.5 per cent in June, 2010.

However, growth in mining sector output declined to a mere 0.6 per cent in June, 2011, from 6.9 per cent in the same month last year.

Non-durable consumer goods (FMCG) production also saw a slowdown in growth to 2.1 per cent in June, compared to 7.5 per cent expansion a year ago, while growth in consumer durables output also fell sharply to just 1 per cent from 21.2 per cent a year ago.

Meanwhile, the industrial growth number for May this year has been revised upward to 5.9 per cent from the provisional estimate of 5.6 per cent.

As per the latest data, industrial growth during the April-June quarter stood at 6.8 per cent compared to a growth of 9.6 per cent in the first quarter of last fiscal.

The slowdown could be attributed to a weaker performance in April and May 2011, when the IIP growth stood at 5.7 per cent and 5.9 per cent, respectively.

Manufacturing sector grew by 7.5 per cent in April-June this year as against a growth of 10.3 per cent in the same period of 2010.

Growth in mining also fell to a mere one per cent during the first quarter of the current fiscal from an 8 per cent jump registered in the year-ago period.

Offtake of capital goods grew by 16.9 per cent in April-June this year as against a growth of 17.2 per cent in the year-ago period.

Consumer non-durables witnessed a growth of 4.9 per cent during the period under review as compared to 5.3 per cent in April-June 2010, while consumer durables grew by only 3.3 per cent as against 19.7 per cent.

However, electricity output increased by 8.2 per cent during the first quarter of this fiscal as against a growth of 5.4 per cent in the same period of last year.

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They closed on 84 without loss in reply to India’s modest first innings 224, a deficit of 140 runs, at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Wednesday.

England captain Andrew Strauss was 52 not out and fellow left-handed opener Alastair Cook 27 not out in front of a sell-out 25 000 crowd at Warwickshire’s headquarters, redeveloped at a cost of £32 million.

Their unbroken stand rounded off a good day for England, already 2-0 up, as they pursued a victory that would see them take the four-match series and go to the top of the Test standings.

Strauss, in what was his best Test score this season, set the seal on a fine first day for England shortly before stumps by completing a 76-ball fifty including 10 fours.

Earlier, seamers Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan – England’s heroes with both bat and ball during their crushing 319-run second Test win at Trent Bridge – shared eight wickets.

Broad took four for 53 in 17 overs, with the fast-medium bowler dismissing both Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar as the Indian stars managed just one run between them.

Meanwhile Bresnan, recalled at Trent Bridge in place of the still-injured Chris Tremlett, had four for 62 in 20 overs.

India have yet to post 300 this series but captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni prevented total embarrassment with a swashbuckling 77 after a top-order collapse reduced his side to 111 for seven.

Together with the resourceful Praveen Kumar, he added a run-a-ball 84 for the eighth wicket.

Dhoni, whose previous best score this series was 28 in the opener at Lord’s, launched James Anderson for a straight six and also clubbed Bresnan high over long-on as he at last found his form with the bat.

Kumar was no silent partner, hitting a six and four fours in his 26 before, trying to hook Bresnan, he was caught by wicketkeeper Matt Prior.

Dhoni was eventually out when an edged drive off Broad was held by first slip Strauss to end a 96-ball knock featuring three sixes and 10 fours.

Injury-hit India, after losing the toss in overcast, seam bowler friendly conditions, slumped to 75 for four at lunch with Rahul Dravid, a century-maker at Trent Bridge, brilliantly bowled by Bresnan for 22 off the last ball before the interval.

India then lost their next three wickets for just 19 runs, with Bresnan again exposing Venkatsai Laxman’s vulnerability against the short delivery when the elegant batsman didn’t get over a pull and holed out straight to Broad at long leg for 30.

Broad had previously struck first ball to remove dynamic opening batsman Sehwag for a golden duck.

Sehwag, playing his first match of the series after shoulder surgery, tried to sway out of the way of a short ball but gloved to Prior, with a review overturning Davis’s initial verdict as it also did when Kumar was dismissed.

Bresnan then ended a stand worth 51 when left-hander Gambhir inside-edged onto his stumps for 38.

Gambhir’s exit brought in Tendulkar, who received a standing ovation as he walked out in pursuit of an unprecedented 100th international hundred.

But Tendulkar made just one before he was lured into playing a Broad delivery outside off-stump he might have left and edged to third slip Anderson.

Teams:

India:

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c), Virender sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Suresh Raina, Amit Mishra, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, S Sreesanth.

England:

Andrew Strauss (c), Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara, Matt Prior, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson.

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NASA scientists have said that there are seasonal streams of liquid water flowing across the surface of the Red Planet, if confirmed the evidence gathered by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter would be the first discovery of active liquid water.

In fact, it was US space agency NASA which said that pictures taken from its Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft showed finger-like features which may be flows of salty water spilling over the rims of craters.

Lujendra Ojha and colleagues at the University of Arizona now claim that, if confirmed, the discovery could finally help establish whether life could be sustained on Mars.

“I was baffled when I first saw those features. We soon realised they were different from slope streaks that had been observed before. These were highly seasonal and we observed some of them had grown by more than 200 metres in a matter of just two Earth months,” Jha said.

His colleague, Dr Alfred McEwen said the markings were “a mystery now, but a solvable mystery”.

“The best explanation we have for these observations so far is a flow of briny water, although this study does not prove that,” he said.

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Dravid, the lone batsman in form in the ongoing Test series, was included to provide stability to the brittle line-up which has struggled in the seaming English conditions.

Harbhajan, who has been ruled out of the Test series because of an abdominal strain, was expectedly not considered for the ODIs along with another star injured player Yuvraj Singh, nursing a broken left index finger.

Karnataka paceman Vinay Kumar and wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel were recalled into the 16-member squad announced by the BCCI secretary N Srinivasan after a meeting of the selection committee in Chennai.

Paceman S Sreesanth, left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha and all-rounder Yusuf Pathan also failed to find favour with the five-man selection panel which packed the team with five specialist pacemen and two spinners in Amit Mishra and R Ashwin.

Tendulkar, who often skips one-dayers, has been included in the team.

India will play the lone Twenty20 match in Manchester on August 31 followed by five one-dayers at Chester-Le-Street (September 3), Southampton (September 6), London (September 9 and September 11) and Cardiff (September 16).

The Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag (vice-captain), Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Suresh raina, Rohit Sharma, Zaheer Khan, R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma, Vinay Kumar, Amit Mishra, Parthiv Patel.

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