Lalu Prasad to be taken to jail today

Ranchi: A CBI court in Ranchi on Monday found all 45 accused including RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav guilty in the multi-crore fodder scam.
Special CBI judge Pravas Kumar Singh delivered the verdict. 475 page verdict was in seven parts. Quantum of punishment to be announced on October 3.

Lalu Prasad Yadav will be taken to jail today. The verdict in the fodder scam to have a bearing on Bihar politics, as the RJD chief stands disqualified as a Lok Sabha member. As per a Supreme Court order that an MP or legislator would stand disqualified immediately if convicted by a court for crimes with punishment of two years or more.

There was heavy security in the Ranchi court ahead of the verdict. RJD supports were seen going to temples and mosques seeking blessing for the RJD chief. Lalu Yadav's son Tejaswi Pratap had earlier said that the verdict won't affect the party and it will continue to function under his guidance.

Prasad and 44 others have been charged with fraudulent withdrawal to the tune of Rs 37.7 crore on fake fodder bills from Chaibasa treasury in the 1990s in a case lodged by CBI. Chaibasa was then part of undivided Bihar.

Accompanied by son Tejaswi Pratap and a host of party colleagues, 65-year-old Prasad on Sunday reached Ranchi to be present in the court.

Besides the RJD supremo, other accused persons include former Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra and JD(U) MP Jagdish Sharma.

The government later promulgated an ordinance to undo the apex court order, prompting opposition BJP to allege that it had been done to protect Congress member in Rajya Sabha Rashid Masood, who was recently convicted in a corruption case and also Prasad in case he is indicted in the fodder scam.

Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi has, however, slammed the ordinance as "complete nonsense" which should be "torn up and thrown away," leaving its fate uncertain.

The ordinance is likely to be withdrawn after the cabinet meet on October 2.

'Bigg Boss 7' introduces contestants to "Heaven and Hell"

The seventh season of popular reality television show 'Bigg Boss' kicked off today with 15 contestants, including late actor Rajesh Khanna's partner Anita Advani, Bollywood actress Kajol's sister Tannisha Mukherji and wrestler Sangram Singh.

Bollywood star Salman Khan returned as the host for the fourth time on the show and will play a double role of an "angel and devil" to the inmates of the 'Bigg Boss' house for three months.

Other contestants include actress Pratyusha Banerjee of 'Baalika Vadhu' fame, actor Kushal Tandon, Ratan Rajput, Kamya Punjabi, Hazel Keech and funnyman Rajat Rawail, both seen in Salman starrer 'Bodyguard' along with model-turned-actress Gauhar Khan, VJ Andy and Armaan Kohli.

Dancer Elie Evram, who will be making her Bollywood debut in 'Mickey Virus' and actors and real-life couple Apoorva and Shilpa Agnihotri, have also entered the show this season. This year, the 'Bigg Boss' house has been divided into two sections: 'Heaven' and 'Hell'.

Half the contestants have entered the luxurious part of the house, 'Heaven', while the rest will stay in the underprivileged section, 'Hell'.

Bollywood star Akshay Kumar was seen promoting his upcoming film 'Boss' on the show.

The actor also grooved to the title track of the movie with Salman on stage.

MBA grads face falling salaries

Hyderabad: The average salary of a management graduate in the state has dropped to Rs 15,000 per month from Rs 25,000 two years back.
The impact is being felt in the ongoing Icet counselling for students to fill management seats, with many of them shying away from taking admissions in management colleges during counselling. Experts said that the current economic downturn is the reason for poor placements and lower salaries.

Management institutes had boomed in the state between 2004 and 2009 with good placements in corporate, financial, banking and allied sectors. The average salary had increased to Rs 30,000 per month in 2009, which has been gradually coming down since then.

The average salary came down to Rs 25,000 in 2010 and 2011 and then to Rs 20,000 in 2012. And in the on-going campus placement drives, several companies are offering Rs 15,000 per month. The downturn has also forced as many as 170 colleges to drop management courses this year.

While there were 1.11 lakh MBA seats in 1007 colleges last year, the seats came down to 95,535 in 837 colleges this year. In the ongoing Icet counselling, 89,595 seats are on offer in 797 management colleges.

Though students from ranks 1 to 60,000 were called, only 27,611 turned up for counselling till September 12. Officials are worried as only about 30,000 out of 89,000 seats will be filled this year.

“Barring a few reputed colleges, there are no takers for MBA seats in majority of the colleges. This is because of poor placements and lower salaries being offered to students after completion of the course. Many colleges will down shutters by next year if the situation continues,” said Ramesh Nimmatoori, chairman, Consortium of Professional Colleges Managements Association.