India Against Corruption (IAC) on Thursday rejected the allegations by former IPS officer YP Singh that its leader Arvind Kejriwal had hidden facts about alleged corruption by Agriculture Minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar in irrigation scam.

READ MORE: Pawar rejects his role in Lavasa scandal

The Kejriwal-led group said that the issue should be confined to the Lavasa scam and not taken as a "Arvind Kejriwal vs Y P Singh war".

At a press conference in Mumbai, Singh alleged that Kejriwal had information to expose Pawar but had concealed facts.

The IPS officer-turned- lawyer attacked Kejriwal for his  expose on Gadkari and alleged that the scam involving the BJP chief was nothing compared to the one indulged in by Pawar and his relatives in Lavasa, near Pune.

"Details of the larger irrigation scam were not brought out," Singh alleged.

Responding to Singh's remarks, IAC activist Manish Sisodia said they congratulate him on making these "revelations" and it is good if corrupt political bigshots are exposed.

"We don't exactly know why Y P Singh is saying so that we did not reveal documents against Sharad Pawar. He is a very good friend of ours. There is nothing like this.

 ‘Singh has proved charges against Pawar again’

IAC complimented Singh for raising the issue and highlighted that the group had earlier raised the same issue which Singh had proved again. IAC said that Pawar's name was included in the list of 15 ministers against whom it had sought a probe for alleged corruption.

"The charges against Sharad Pawar have once again been proved by Y P Singh. IAC congratulates Singh for his courage to speak up against such a powerful minister," it said.

"Our top office-bearers had also carried out a 10-day dharna agitation in July. So it is not proper on Y.P. Singh's part to say that we have kept quiet in the matter of allegations against Sharad Pawar," IAC said.

A statement posted in the Facebook account of India Against Corruption alleged that Pawar has misused his position and has severe charges of graft against him.

"IAC has been saying this since long. Sharad Pawar was also one of the 15 ministers against whom Kejriwal, Sisodia and Gopal Rai were on fast for 10 days at Jantar Mantar from July 25.

Before Singh's press conference, Kejriwal said, "Singh is doing a good work and I respect him, why is he saying all of a sudden, I don't know."

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Pop star Katy Perry was spotted at the 35th birthday of ex-boyfriend John Mayer in the West Village's ABC Kitchen.
  
They enjoyed a romantic lunch together to celebrate Mayer's special day and Perry, 27, was hoping to get more serious with him before their most recent split.
  
"She's been really depressed and needs attention. She really liked him and thought it was going to be something serious," a source said.
  
The couple, who first started dating in June, were also seen having dinner at Pearl restaurant in the city before going clubbing together on Sunday night.
  
Their latest reconciliation comes just days after Perry had grown tired of Meyer's failure to commit."John liked Katy, so he wanted to keep her in his life, but it just wasn't up to Katy's standards.

She needs the guy to be on board 100 percent and she was sick of John disappearing for five days at a time, then booty calling her, then straightening up and  treating her well, only to go back to his old behaviour a few days later," the source added.

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The massive eight-wicket loss in their tournament opener has not been an ideal start for defending champions Mumbai Indians and they would look to make amends when they take on Yorkshire in their crucial Champions League Twenty20 match here on Thursday.

With both Mumbai and Yorkshire suffering defeats in their opening Group B matches, tomorrow’s tie is a must-win game for both the sides to keep their semi-final chances alive.

There may be a striking similarity between the two teams as far loss and position in the points table are concerned, but MI would certainly start as favourites against the English outfit owing to their more experienced batting line-up, which runs quite deep.

In fact, Mumbai batted reasonably well in their opening game against Highveld Lions. It was actually their bowling department that had let the team down with the likes of Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha leaking too many runs.

A good start by Sachin Tendulkar along with either Dwayne Smith or Richard Levi is what Mumbai would be banking on.

Tendulkar though got a start in the last match, scoring 16 off 24 balls, but he could not carry on the momentum. And come tomorrow he will be keen on doing well as his performance will have a bearing on the team’s fortune in the tournament.

For the 39-year-old senior batsman, it will also be a chance to prove his detractors wrong after he was bowled thrice during the Test series against New Zealand at home and also in the previous match against Lions.

Among others Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik are expected to lend solidity to the middle-order, while Kieron Pollard, with his big-hitting prowess, steady seam-up stuff and electric fielding, will be a crowd puller.

MI’s bowling, however, failed to deliver the goods in the last match despite pace duo of Lasith Malinga and Mitchell Johnson turning out to be pretty economical.

To MI’s liking the wicket here may assist bowlers unlike Johannesburg. The conditions here are expected to be more helpful for both the pacers as well as spinners.

Harbhajan did not have a good start to the tournament as he gave away as many as 36 runs from his four overs, taking just one wicket. And the feisty off-spinner would be keen to prove that his fine performance in the recently-concluded ICC World Twenty20 wasn’t a mere flash in the pan.

Against an inexperienced Yorkshire batting line-up, it would be a great opportunity for Harbhajan to strengthen his case before the Test team selection.

Malinga, who has been instrumental in many Mumbai wins over the past few years, will also be eyeing to produce another deadly performance for his side.

On the other hand, Yorkshire, which though managed to impress during their qualifying campaign by winning both the matches to sail into the main draw, came a cropper against Sydney Sixers in their opener.

Yorkshire could post only 96 for nine in 20 overs before Sixers chased down the paltry target with 67 balls to spare.

Yorskshire would be desperately looking towards its openers - Andrew Gale and Phil Jaques - to provide a solid start.

Yorkshire’s middle-order batsmen, especially Joe Root and Gary Ballance have shown glimpses of their potential during the qualifiers and come tomorrow the team would want them to fire in unison against Malinga and Co.

Yorkshire’s bowling attack, spearheaded by veteran Ryan Sidebottom, looked impressive in the qualifiers but they had hardly anything to defend against Sydney the other day.

Teams:

Mumbai Indians: Harbhajan Singh (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Richard Levi, Dwayne Smith, Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Thisara Perera, Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, Mitchell Johnson, Munaf Patel, Pragyan Ojha, Dhwal Kulkarni, Suryakumar Yadav.

Yorkshire: Andrew Gale (c), Moin Ashraf, Azeem Rafiq, Gary Ballance, Oliver Hannon-Dalby, Dan Hodgson, Phil Jaques, Adam Lyth, David Miller, Steven Patterson, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Ryan Sidebottom, Iain Wardlaw, Eddie Wilson.

Match starts at 9 pm (IST).

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Exasperated over Bollywood diva Kareena Kapoor’s marriage with Saif Ali Khan without her conversion to Islam, renowned Islamic institution Darul Uloom has declared the wedding as anti-Islam. The Islamic institution located at Deoband, a town in Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, has said that the Kareena married to Saif due to her vested interest which is against Islamic norms.

Will Kareena convert to Islam post marriage?

Saif-Kareena exchange marriage vows

B-Town celebs wish just married Saifeena

Declaring a Fatwa (religious ruling as per Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar) against the October 16 marriage of the two Bollywoood stars, Habib ur Rahman, the senior cleric of Darul Uloom, categorically said Kareena’s decision not to convert to Islam before her marriage with a Muslim male, Saif Ali Khan, shows that she was motivated by some vested interest. Islam never approves such acts. Had both of them been Muslims, the marriage would definitely have been religious.

Another cleric Mohammad Arif has also made scathing remarks against the marriage saying the norms practiced under Islam have been violated. Mufti Umar Ilahi expressed that Kareena remaining Hindu even after her marriage to Saif is totally against the canons of Islamic rules.

Bollywood star couple Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor on October 16 tied the knot in a quiet affair after a five-year courtship.

Saif, 42, son of late Nawab of Pataudi and former Indian cricket captain Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and actress Sharmila Tagore, sealed his relationship with Kareena, 32, at his residence in suburban Bandra through a registered marriage.

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Amid demands for calling Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram as witnesses before the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on 2G, BJP members in the panel on Thursday once again abstained from its proceedings.

During the last meeting of JPC on October 11, the BJP members had stayed away while accusing JPC Chairman P Chacko of failing to finalise the list of witnesses and include the Prime Minister and Chidambaram in it.

BJP has six members in JPC.

In July and September, BJP members had stormed out of the meeting accusing Chacko of being "biased" and accused Congress members of using foul language against them.

BJP Leader Yashwant Sinha, who is a member of JPC, had dashed off a letter to Chacko earlier this week saying that the body is of a "special nature" and, hence, a precedent can be set by calling the Prime Minister.

He had maintained the Prime Minister was directly involved in certain decisions on 2G spectrum allocation and "he and he alone" can answer some of the questions related it.

Sinha had also said the Prime Minister had offered to present himself before Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on the same issue and, therefore, he should not have any objection to facing JPC.

BJP has clearly told Chacko that it will not attend the JPC meetings till the list of witnesses is finalised and the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister are summoned.

Chacko had earlier sought directions from the Speaker on the issue of summoning Chidambaram, but the Speaker had informed Chacko that the Committee has to first take a decision on the issue before approaching her and it was, therefore, "premature to intervene at this stage".

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Making crucial revelations in the Geetika Sharma suicide case, former Haryana minister and MDLR chief Gopal Goyal Kanda, who is facing charges of abetting the suicide, has told the police that he was so obsessed and possessive for Geetika that he used all possible means to remain with her and never let her go out of his sight.

“I used my position, wealth, force and other resources to make Geetika live with me and only me,” Kanda confessed with the police during interrogation.

On Wednesday, Kanda and his aide Aruna Chaddah were produced before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM D) K Jangala after expiry of their judicial custody, who extended their judicial custody till October 26.

Kanda confessed in the court that he had earlier refused to sign the statement.

Recalling Geetika’s MDLR Airlines cabin crew interviews, Kanda said that he has asked his board members to give her the job.

“On seeing Geetika, I told my board members that this girl is beautiful, so give her the job. As she had not attained 18 years of age, we appointed her as trainee cabin crew. Geetika had a very impressive personality so I liked her a lot. Six months later, after she was 18, I quickly appointed her as a senior cabin crew member,” Kanda told the police in his statement, adding, “I have asked her to report me every evening.”

“Geetika would give me a daily report every evening. This has brought us together and I got attracted towards her. But soon after the airline was shut down, Geetika started searching for other option which I didn’t like. I have only asked my staff not to handover Geetika’s documents to her,” he said, adding, “I raised her salary and offered a promotion to keep her in my office.”

Strong leads given by Kanda to the police seem to have cleared the Geetika suicide case to a larger extent.  

Court extends judicial custody of Kanda, Chaddah

A Delhi court on Wednesday extended till October 26 the judicial custody of Gopal Kanda and Aruna Chaddah, the senior executive in Kanda’s office.

Kanda and Chaddah, who were chargesheeted by the Delhi police on October 6 for allegedly conspiring to intimidate Geetika for taking the extreme step, were produced before ACMM D K Jangala after expiry of their judicial custody on Wednesday.

Former air hostess Geetika was found dead on August 5 at her Ashok Vihar residence in North West Delhi. In her August 4 suicide note, 23-year-old Geetika had said she was ending her life due to "harassment" by Kanda and Chaddah.

The Delhi police chargesheet has accused the duo of committing offences under section 306 (abetment of suicide), 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 506 (criminal intimidation), 201 (destruction of evidence), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery with intention to cheat), 469 (forgery with intention to harm reputation) and 471 (using forged documents as genuine) of the Indian Penal Code.

The chargesheet added that they had also committed offence under section 66 of the Information and Technology Act which deals with hacking of computers.

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The Supreme Court on Thursday slapped a Rs.5 lakh fine on an ex-SP MLA while dismissing as without substance his petition against Rahul Gandhi in which he had alleged that the Congress leader had confined a girl in Uttar Pradesh.

"The allegation is without substance and without an iota of evidence," a bench of justices BS Chauhan and Swatanter Kumar said.

"The reputation of respondent no 6 (Rahul Gandhi) has been damaged by the undesirable act of the petitioner (ex-Samajwadi Party MLA Kishore Samrite)," the bench said.

The Apex Court further said the petition filed against Gandhi was "misconceived" and that Samrite abused the process of law on the basis of incorrect statement.

The bench passed the order on an appeal filed by Samrite challenging an order of the Allahabad High Court which had dismissed his plea against Gandhi and imposed a cost of Rs 50 lakh on him for filing a frivolous petition. The high court had also directed a CBI probe against the ex-SP MLA from Madhya Pradesh.

Samrite had then approached the Apex Court against the High Court's order.

Rejecting his plea, the Supreme Court said, "the petition filed by him was not bonafide" and there was no case of illegal confinement as the girl, who was allegedly kidnapped, had made no complaint.

The bench, however, said that the cost imposed by the High Court was exorbitant and reduced it.

It said that the CBI will continue with its probe against Samrite and other persons who are involved in filing of the frivolous petition and asked it to submit a report within six months.

The Apex Court on October 1 had reserved its order on the plea challenging the March 7, 2011 order of the Allahabad High Court.

Samrite, who is facing a CBI probe for dragging Gandhi's name in the case, had submitted in his plea that the High Court had wrongly dismissed his petition by imposing exemplary costs of Rs 50 lakh.

He had insisted that his petition was maintainable and that the Division Bench of the High Court exceeded its jurisdiction by transferring the matter from a single bench to itself.

He had submitted before the Apex Court that the High Court had erroneously tagged his petition with another and had deprived him of his right to be heard.

He had said the two petitions were different in nature and the names of persons in illegal confinement mentioned in them were different.

He had said the three persons, i.e, the girl and her parents produced before the High Court, were different from those mentioned in his petition.

The CBI had told the Apex Court that its probe has found that the case against Gandhi was based on "non-existent" claims.

Gandhi's counsel had argued that Samrite's petition was politically motivated to tarnish the image of the young politician.

He had also raised objections to the averments made by Samrite in his affidavit, saying nobody can accuse the judges of being biased.

Samrite had said that the CBI did not follow the proper procedure in probing the case and had registered the regular case without making a preliminary inquiry.

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Forget about painful diets and grueling exercise, from now on all you have to do to lose weight is spray on a little perfume. The magic fragrance is called Prends-Moi and is said to contain beta-endorphins that reduce the urge to overeat. 

Developed by the French perfume house Robertet, the Veld's Prends-Moi slimming fragrance was launched last year, but only recently made its debut on the English market, where women welcomed it with open arms. 

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Moustafa Ismail, a 24-year-old Egyptian bodybuilder has recently claimed the Guinness record for world's largest biceps. His bulging arms are 31 inches across, the same circumference as a grown man's waist. He is often called a real-life Popeye, just like arm-wrestler Matthias Schlitte. 

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