Lokayukta: Gujarat Bill ending role of Governor, CJ passed

Amid protests and a walkout by Opposition MLAs in the Assembly, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday pushed through a new Gujarat Lokayukta Aayog Bill, 2013 that seeks to end the role of the Governor and the Chief Justice of the High Court in appointing the ombudsman. The Bill proposes a seven-member selection panel headed by the Chief Minister, which will recommend a candidate for the Lokayukta’s post, and the Governor’s role would only be to ratify the candidate. The other members will be a minister hand-picked by the Chief Minister, the Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition, a High Court judge nominated by the Chief Justice...

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iPhone maker Apple to release updated phone this summer

The Wall Street Journal says Apple is set for a possible summer launch of the next iPhone, rather than a fall launch like the last two models. Apple is also working on a cheaper iPhone model that could win it some market share in developing countries, the paper says. It cited unnamed people "familiar with the device's production.'' The report is in line with the expectations of company watchers and Wall Street analysts. The iPhone 5 costs around $600, and while Apple maintains older iPhones in production, even those aren't cheap enough to compete effectively against low-end smartphones running Google Inc.'s Android software. Apple...

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IPL 2013: Sourav Ganguly puts his smart money on Mumbai Indi

Sourav Ganguly has said that the presence of a great coaching staff and experienced veterans will make Mumbai Indians the favourites for this edition. "They have a new but highly experienced coach in John Wright, the well-respected Anil Kumble as their mentor and senior pro Ricky Ponting as captain. Along with Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh's experience, you have exciting youngsters in Maxwell, Rohit and Rayudu. They will be strong contenders for the title," Ganguly said.  Speaking about the defending champions, he said: "KKR's confidence will be really high being the champions. But they also have injury problem. I think...

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Rajinikanth, Kamal join fast to support Sri Lankan Tamils

Chennai, April 2 (IANS) Stalwarts like Rajinikanth, Ajith Kumar, Kamal Haasan and many more Tuesday joined the members of the South Indian Film Artistes Association (SIFAA) in a day-long fast here to protest alleged "war crimes" against Tamils in Sri Lanka. Spearheaded by SIFAA, commonly known as 'Nadigar Sangam', the film fraternity is observing a silent protest and there was a huge turnout with most of the big names Vikram, Sarath Kumar, Prakash Raj Bhagyaraj, Radha Ravi, Sathyaraj, Sivakumar, Suriya, Karthi, Bharat, Udhayanidhi Stalin, Dhansika, Monica, Vishal Krishna and Chandrasekhar, among others, joining the fast at Nadigar Sangam...

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Ambani brothers move past feud as Reliance Jio

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI (Reuters) - Billionaire Ambani brothers will share a fibre optic network for their rival telecoms companies, their first business tie-up since ending a long-running feud three years ago. Reliance Industries (RELI.NS), controlled by Mukesh Ambani, India's richest person, will pay 12 billion rupees to younger brother Anil Ambani's Reliance Communications (RLCM.NS) for use of its fibre optic network. The companies said on Tuesday they could co-operate further in future and the announcement bolstered their share prices. Reliance Industries, whose main business is petrochemicals,...

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