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Zaheer to miss intl cricket till end of this year

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New Delhi, August 07: Indian cricket team today suffered a major jolt as injured pace spearhead Zaheer Khan was ruled out of international cricket till the end of this year during which he will miss four major tournaments, including the Champions Trophy.

BCCI Secretary N Srinivasan announced today that Zaheer, who suffered a shoulder injury while playing for Mumbai Indians in the IPL-II in South Africa earlier this year, will be able to resume cricket only by the end of this year as he underwent a surgery last month and is rehabilitating in the African nation.

Murali: A fine actor leaves the arena

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Thiruvananthapuram, August 07: National award winning actor Murali, who died last night leaving a void in the Malayalam filmdom and theatre, can be best described as an “aggressive” personality, both on and off the screen.

Murali, known for his belligerence in matters concerning art, had immortalised several characters on the stage and screen.

“I am a person with vigorous hates and more vigorous love,” Murali once said.

Buddha Garden rape case verdict deferred

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New Delhi, August 07: A city court Friday deferred the verdict in the sensational Buddha Jayanti Park gang rape case of 2003, in which four members of the President’s Bodyguard are the accused, to Aug 13.

On July 31, Additional Sessions Judge S.K. Sarvaria had deferred the verdict till Aug 7.

According to the prosecution, the victim had gone with her friend Ashish to the park near the Rashtrapati Bhavan Oct 6, 2003 and was raped by Harpreet and Satendra while Kuldeep and Manish kept guard.

We decided to kill Birendra but spare Gyanendra, says massacre ‘plotter’

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Kathmandu, August 07: In an incredible turn of events eight years after the stunning massacre of Nepal’s King Birendra and his entire family, a 59-year-old Nepali has surfaced in the capital, claiming to have plotted the assassination in a bid to save the nation.

Tul Prasad Sherchan, who claims to have been groomed from the age of five years to head the covert operations of Nepal’s Royal Bureau of Intelligence – akin to American agency CIA and India’s RAW, created a sensation Wednesday when he walked into Nepal’s best known media club and said he had planned the killings in 1975.

Senior Andhra cop’s family to be quizzed on constable’s death

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Bhopal, August 07: A police team from Madhya Pradesh will leave for New Delhi Saturday to quiz the family members of Andhra Pradesh anti-terror unit chief Vivek Dubey in connection with the mysterious death of a constable of the southern state’s armed reserve, official sources here said Friday.

Muralinath, 42, was found dead by the roadside in Jaitpur village in Bhind district of Madhya Pradesh July 30.

Barak hints at another war with Lebanon

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jerusalem, August 07: The Israeli Defense Minister has hinted at Tel Aviv’s intentions for lunching another offensive against Lebanon saying the war would be more devastating than the one in 2006.

“We cannot accept that a neighboring UN member state should have in its government representatives of a militia that has more than 40,000 rockets,” Ehud Barak said Thursday referring to Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement.

Delhi has paid over Rs.200 crore for Himachal dam: Dhumal

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Shimla, August 07: The Delhi government has provided Rs.214.83 crore to Himachal Pradesh for a hydroelectric project that will provide drinking water to the national capital, Himachal Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has said.

“The Delhi government has deposited Rs.214.83 crore with Himachal Pradesh for the construction of the Renuka Dam (in Sirmaur district), that will provide drinking water to Delhi,” Dhumal told the state assembly on Thursday.

Sania in Vancouver quarterfinals with easy victory

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Vancouver, August 07: Top seed Sania Mirza easily moved into the quarterfinals of the $175,000 Oldum Brown Vancouver Open, beating American Laura Granville 6-2, 6-4.

Sania, who had a hard-fought 6-4, 7-5 first-round victory over 410th-ranked American Mallory Cecil, had things to her liking in the second round of the ITF women’s tournament on Thursday.

Granville, who like Sania was once among the top 30 on the WTA rankings, could not handle the power-packed hitting of the Indian, particularly the sizzling forehand, and meekly surrendered.

Pakistan should try ‘war criminals’ during Bangladesh war: Expert

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Dhaka, August 07: Pakistan should try those responsible for the genocide that took place during Bangladesh’s freedom struggle in 1971, a Canadian lawyer has said while endorsing Dhaka’s move to try those it considers ‘war criminals’.

Trying those responsible for the killings of unarmed civilians was necessary ‘to stop recurrence of genocide and end culture of impunity’, David Matas, who has dealt with Rwanda genocide and Nazi war criminals, told The Daily Star newspaper.

England prepare to unleash Harmison in Flintoff’s place

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London, August 08: England are five days away from regaining the Ashes. It was the solitary salient fact that remained unalterable until late yesterday when precious little else had been clear and it is the single issue that will drive the penultimate match of the series which starts in Leeds today.

Fresh trouble for Buta Singh brews in Bihar

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Patna, August 07: More trouble seems to be brewing for former union home minister Buta Singh. The Bihar government is to probe his role in the allotment of an embankment construction project on the Bagmati river to a firm in 2005 in violation of norms when he was the governor of the state, an official said.

The Rs.900 crore Bagmati River embankment construction work was given to Hindustan Steelworks Construction Limited (HSCL), which officials said had no prior experience. In 2005 Bihar was under President’s rule and Buta Singh was the governor.

How Bing bankrolled Bill’s Korean mission

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Washington, August 07: New details of Bill Clinton’s triumphant North Korean rescue mission leaked yesterday have revealed that the former president had help from a dazzling array of high-level contacts – including the billionaire Hollywood producer Steve Bing.

Bing, an erstwhile playboy and certified FOB, or Friend of Bill, lent Mr Clinton the all-white plane that ferried him across the Pacific. And nor was Bing the only player to help make a mission of huge value to the American government into a credible freelance operation.

Sensex opens weak, down 51 points

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Mumbai, August 07: A key index of the Indian equities markets opened in the red Friday and was 51 points down about 15 minutes into trade.

The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened lower at 15,440.95 points, as against Thursday’s close at 15,514.03 points. After 15 minutes, it was at 15,462.34 points, 51.69 or 0.33 percent down from its previous close.

The broader S and amp;P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) too was in the red and was at 4,565.15 points, a fall of 0.44 percent.

Boy killed at clinic for internet addicts

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Beijing, August 07: A teenager was allegedly beaten to death in a camp designed to treat internet addiction.

Deng Senshan, 15, died less than a day after his parents sent him to the camp in southern Guangxi province. The case has led medical experts to call for laws regulating centres that treat obsessive internet surfing. Concern about such behaviour is so widespread in China, and demand for rehabilitation is so great, that some camps now advertise on television.

Murder case against cops for fake encounter

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Lucknow, August 07: A murder case has been registered against six policemen in Sultanpur district of Uttar Pradesh for their alleged involvement in a fake encounter that took place three years ago, police said Friday.

The Crime Branch Criminal Investigation Department (CBCID), investigating the encounter of August 2006, lodged the case against two sub-inspectors and four constables.

Thousands of Shiites head to Karbala for religious ritual

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Baghdad, August 07: Hundreds of thousands of Shiites from all over Iraq flocked Thursday to Karbala to take part in a religious festival amid tight security.

“Everything is continuing normally and we are working to secure all visitors from Iraq and from other countries and ensure their safe return to their families after performing the visit,” First Deputy Governor of Karbala, Abbas al-Moussawi, was quoted by Aswat al-Iraq news agency as saying.

Bullet in the post is price of power for an enemy of Mugabe

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Africa, August 07: Attempts by President Robert Mugabe’s old guard to derail Zimbabwe’s democratic progress are mere “sulks from a dying breed”, according to the Finance Minister, Tendai Biti.

Mr Biti, who is also the secretary-general of the former opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), last week became the most high-profile target of intimidation when he received a 9mm bullet and a death note at his home. In what the MDC describes as a strategy to wipe out its parliamentary majority, 12 of its MPs are facing a range of court cases and one has already been jailed.

Etihad to start flights to Hyderabad from November

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Abu Dhabi, August 07: Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), will start flights from Abu Dhabi to the Indian city of Hyderabad from November, WAM news agency reported Thursday.

The Abu Dhabi-based airline will launch the non-stop, four times a week service from November and it would become daily from the start of 2010.

Only mediocre people play safe: Anupam Kher

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Mumbai, August 07: Actor Anupam Kher could have opted for a conventional subject and a known star cast for the first film of his new production house. But he chose to make ‘Teree Sang’, a film on teen pregnancy starring newcomers, as he didn’t wish to play safe.

MPS need to be reined in: Speaker

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New Delhi, August 07: With Parliament witnessing frequent adjournments over different issues, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar has said that MPs needed to be “reined in”.

“Parliaments, across the world, including ours are facing problems… They (lawmakers) need to be reined in,” she said.

However, the Speaker said there were no need for making any new rules to address the problem.

Kumar made these remarks while speaking at a discussion on reservation for women in Parliament and legislatures yesterday.

Agra tense, six injured in stone pelting

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Lucknow, August 07: Sporadic incidents of violence took place in several parts of the city Thursday on the eve of Shab-e-raat, and half a dozen people have been injured in stone pelting, police said.

What started as a group clash over loud music late Wednesday night in the Mantola thana area, has now snowballed into a full-fledged anti-police campaign.

The situation has been described as tense after clashes in Purani Mandi area, close to the Taj Mahal. Senior police officials have reached Purani Mandi and are trying to control the flareup.

Employees of PSU banks strike work for second day

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New Delhi, August 07: Employees of state-run banks continued their strike demanding higher wages for the second day today, hitting bulk cash and current account transactions, even as ATMs began running dry across the country.

Although private banks continued to operate as usual majority of trade and industry was hit by the strike by staff of 25 nationalised banks who are demanding revision of wages and a second option for pension among other things.

Educational institutions worst hit by swine flu

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New Delhi, August 07: As the country grapples with swine flu, educational institutions here seem to have been worst hit in view of a number of students testing positive for the virus.

After a student of Sanskriti School here tested positive for the virus, authorities have closed down the school for today. It will reopen on Monday.

Similarly, a 13-year-old girl student of Viswa Bharti school and a 18-year-old girl student of Amity University in Noida have tested positive for the H1N1 virus.

Online CAT, a technology barrier for rural students?

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New Delhi, August 07: With the Common Admission Test (CAT) organised by Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) going online from November this year, the going may get tough for the rural student community, say educationists.

Teachers who have been preparing students to realise their dreams for the most sought after management courses believe this decision is not fair. There are also others who say that this is a welcome step and would make the test more convenient for all.

The test is held for admissions in various post-graduate management courses in the country.

Malaysian student forced to smoke 42 cigarettes as punishment

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Kuala Lumpur, August 07: A Malaysian student was allegedly forced to smoke 42 cigarettes after school authorities discovered a cigarette and lighter in his locket, a news report said Thursday.

Mohamad Alif Arifin, 16, said he denied knowing how the cigarette got into his locker, but the hostel warden at the boarding school chose to punish him in front of other students and teachers.

“It went on for more than two hours. I was forced to smoke four cigarettes at a time until I finished 42 cigarettes,” Mohamad Alif was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times daily.