New Delhi, Feb 20 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday registered a case against Satyam founder Ramalinga Raju for committing financial fraud to the tune of Rs. 7,800 crore.

The CBI has also constituted a multi disciplinary investigation team for the probe.

An official statement said that a First Information Report (FIR) has been registered against Raju and other accused.

CBI has also said that it will investigate the case through the Crime Branch, Andhra Pradesh.

Andhra Pradesh police had earlier issued an order recommending a CBI probe.

New Delhi - Twenty-nine people have died of hepatitis in Sabarkantha district of India's Gujarat state in the past fortnight, officials said Friday.

Sabarkatha district collector M Thennarasan said the disease was a mutant form of the hepatitis B virus. He said more than 40 people had been hospitalized with suspected infection.

The hepatitis B virus is usually transmitted through body fluids and, therefore, rarely occurs in very large numbers. It can be transferred through blood transfusion, infected needles or unprotected sex.

New Delhi, Feb 20 : Fifty Eight Rajya Sabha members on Friday filed a petition before the House Chairman seeking the removal of Calcutta High Court Judge Soumitra Sen on grounds of financial misconduct.

Members of Parliament from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM), Communist Party of India
(CPI), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(AIADMK) and Janta Dal (United) submitted a petition to

House Chairman and Vice-President Hamid Ansari.

New Delhi, Feb 20 : Former Rajya Sabha Vice-Chairman Najma Heptullah on Friday opposed Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee's views on agitating MPs, saying that the Speaker's role is like a referee in a match.

"The Speaker is like a referee to ensure that the match goes on smoothly," Heptullah said.

Addressing mediapersons here, Heptullah said that agitations are part and parcel of democracy and an MP is entitled to agitate.

She recalled her experience of 17 years as vice-chairman of the House and said she had faced worse situations than what happened yesterday, but never said what Chatterjee had said.

New Delhi - Half a million people lost their jobs in India in the four-month period ended December 2008 due to the economic slowdown, the government informed parliament Friday.

The assessment of the job losses was based on a quick sample survey by the Labour Ministry of seven sectors hit by the downturn.

These included mines, textiles, metals, gems and jewellery, automobile, transport and the information technology and business process outsourcing.

New Delhi, Fe