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Showing posts from December 5, 2012

‘Gas Mafia’ further burdens common consumers

Tuesday, December 04, 2012 - Mandi Bahauddin—“ Gas mafia ” has again increased price of liquefied petroleum gas ( LPG ) by up to Rs 15 per kg which would further put huge burden on domestic consumers. In Mandi Bahauddin, domestic cylinder is already sold for Rs 1,700 and now its price would shoot up to more than Rs 2000. It may be mentioned that domestic LPG cylinders are purchased by those who could not get CNG connections due to lack of contact with local PPP leaders . The CNG consumers use gas over a month and their bills do not exceed Rs 1000 whereas consumers using LPG have to purchase three to four gas cylinders a month to prepare meals. This disparity is felt seriously by LPG consumers. Besides, cylinder has less than 12 kilograms LPG and the LPG sellers refuse to weigh the cylinder when requested by customers. Complaints made to authorities concerned in this regard bear no fruit.

£10 million of Tuscan wine poured away in 'Mafia-style' attack

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Skulduggery amid the gently sloping vineyards of Tuscany sent an estimated £10 million worth of one of Italy’s most celebrated red wines gurgling down the drain A Tuscan vineyard between Castellina and Poggibonsi in Italy   Saboteurs broke into the cellars of the Case Basse winery in the middle of the night, turned on the taps of the giant wooden casks in which the wine was maturing, and let more than 62,000 litres of prized Brunello di Montalcino drain onto the ground. The resulting virtual lake of wine represented 80,000 bottles, each of which can sell for 170 euros or more — a total estimated value of more than 13 million euros. The nocturnal raiders did no other damage to the estate’s “ cantina ”, nor did they steal anything, deepening the mystery and suggesting that it was less a random episode of vandalism and more a deliberate act of spite. The raid wiped out the last six vintages of the 6.5 hectar

Italy court says wiretaps of president inadmissible in mafia case

Italy 's highest court on Tuesday ruled that a court in Palermo had wrongly dragged President Giorgio Napolitano into a probe on alleged negotiations between the mafia and the state following deadly gangland bombings two decades ago. The constitutional court said it had accepted Napolitano's argument that wiretaps of him speaking to a former interior minister about the mafia investigation could not be used in the case and should have been destroyed immediately. The ruling takes pressure off Napolitano, seen as the guarantor of Mario Monti's technocrat government , who is likely to play an important role in the formation of a new government after elections expected in March. The 87-year-old president risked being weakened by the case which drew negative coverage of him in some domestic newspapers . A ruling against Napolitano would have marred his mandate, which ends early next year, by linking him with one of the most notorious epis

Suspected Mexican Mafia member arrested in Phoenix murder

Steven Benavidez, who authorities say is linked to the Mexican mafia , is behind bars on suspicion of killing Erasmo Ledezma and possession of drug paraphernalia , authorities said. Authorities say witnesses led investigators to believe that Benavidez and other Mexican Mafia members are associated with Ledezma’s death after Ledezma did not pay his share to gang members. The Mexican Mafia is a documented prison gang that taxes individuals to get money and support, according to Superior Court documents. On Nov. 22, Phoenix fire fighters found Ledezma dead outside a business from gunshot wounds near the 4000 block of East Madison Street in Phoenix about 9:50 p.m. Investigators found that the Mexican Mafia members were searching for Ledezma because they thought he leaked information to police about a recent arrest, court documents show. The gang members were also collecting taxes from Ledezma and it was time for him to pay up, officials say. Benav

Land mafia responsible for unrest in Karachi: SC

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KARACHI, (SANA): The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday has issued a 10-page interim order in a suo moto case regarding law and order situation in Karachi . The court has declared the land mafia behind unrest in metropolis . A five-member bench of apex court headed by Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali heard the case from November 26 to 30 and reserved the verdict at Supreme Court ’s Karachi Registry. In the order, the apex court rejected a report submitted by Rangers on curbing violence in the city , and ordered the paramilitary forces to file a comprehensive report pertaining to its performance on 17 December during the next hearing. The court has observed that the report of Rangers would be kept secret. The court has directed Chief Secretary Sindh to submit a detailed revenue record comprising details of sale and lease of government land and has impose the ban over conversion of the 33 years lease into 99 years lease. The court has imposed the ban over trans