italy

RIVER-------TIBER FLOWS HERE

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An Italian court today sentenced former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to four years in jail for tax fraud in connection with the purchase of broadcasting rights by his Mediaset television company. Berlusconi has the right to appeal the ruling, two more times before a definite sentence, and will not have to serve any time in jail until his final appeal is heard. Prosecutors had asked for a jail sentence of three years and eight months.

The ruling comes two days after Berlusconi, 76, confirmed he would not run in next year's elections as the leader of his People of Freedom centre-right party.

Mediaset shares fell nearly 3 percent after the ruling.

IN ITALY-----75 % SEATS OF BOTH HOUSES OF PARLIMENT ARE FILLED ON THE BASIS OF THE FIRST PAT THE POST SYSTEM AND 25% ON BASIS OF PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION SYSTEM OF ELECTIONS. DUE TO UNSTABILITY OF THE GOVT IN ITALY THIS NEW SYSTEM WAS PROPOSED BY BICAMERAL LEGISLATURE



In Italy, six scientists and a government official have been sentenced to six years in jail after they were found guilty of multiple manslaughter for under-estimating the risks of a killer earthquake in L'Aquila in 2009. failing to alert the population of the walled medieval town of L'Aquila to the risks, days before the 6.3-magnitude quake killed 309 people. All seven were members of the Major Risks Committee which met on March 31, 2009 -- six days before the quake devastated the region. They were slammed for providing an incomplete, inept, unsuitable and criminally mistaken analysis, which reassured locals and led many to stay indoors when the first tremors hit.







Indians rescued from Costa Concordia return home
 MS Costa Concordia is a cruise ship owned and operated by Costa Cruises.
 On 13 January 2012, the Costa Concordia ran aground and partially sank on the western coast of Italy just off the
shore of Isola del Giglio.
 Out of the total 4,200 passengers and crew, at least eleven people were killed, including ten passengers and one
crew member, and 23 are still missing.
 At present, the ship is capsized off the coast and at high risk of falling into deeper waters and sinking. It is unclear
whether the ship will sail again.
 Indian nationals rescued from the Costa Concordia cruise ship have returned home.