Gali Nagaraja

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has declined to part with information related to coal blocks allocation citing ongoing CBI probe in the matter.

“Keeping in view the ongoing CBI investigation in the matter, disclosure of information may be withheld for the present, in terms of Section 8 (1)(h) of the RTI Act,” the PMO said in reply to an RTI query.

The Section bars disclosure of information which would impede the process of investigation or prosecution of offenders.

Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma had a task on hand when he sought to turn a cute little girl look scary on the poster of his forthcoming film “Bhoot Returns”.

The poster shows the little girl with optical illusion applied to it. Asked why he opted for such a poster, Varma said, “I have created this kind of poster for two reasons. One is, of course, it draws your attention to the 3D aspect. Second is the fact that there is a very cute looking girl and you are supposed to be scared of her. That’s why I went for this poster.”

After the success of the music of “Bodyguard” and “Bol Bachchan”, music composer Himesh Reshammiya hopes to strike a gold this Diwali with “Son of Sardaar” (SOS).

“We are hoping for a successful Diwali. There is a lot of buzz about the film (‘Son of Sardaar’) and as the music director of the film, I am very, very confident of the film,” the 39-year-old said here in an interview.

“Of course, ‘Raani tu main Raaja’ has already become popular and everyone is liking the title track. So, I am very confident of the music after ‘Bodyguard’ and ‘Bol Bachchan’,” he added.

Sounding the rallying cry for a new Gujarat, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said Wednesday that the state’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was not against corruption but only against her party.

Addressing a rally in Rajkot, about 200 km from here, Gandhi took on Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who has demanded that the government make public the money spent on her medical treatment last year.

“Yeh log brashtachar ke khilaf nahin, sirf hamare khilaf hain. (These people are not against corruption, just against us),” Gandhi said.

Govt. of A.P. has contemplated to establish a library to preserve old Unani and Ayurvedic manuscripts.

The US does not plan to use military force in Syria, US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

Asked by reporters what the department’s reaction would be to Russia having “warned the West from intervening in Syria or creating a buffer zone or no-fly zone”, Nuland said: “I think we’ve made clear what we’re looking at in terms of US support for the opposition.”

The Supreme Court Wednesday said that the government will not disturb the retail price mechanism of essential drugs under the price control order while increasing the number of important medicines under the National List of Essential Drugs (NLED).

The apex court bench of Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya said this while chiding the government for taking long in finalising the list of essential medicines under the NLED.

By holding that it was not their job to run the government, the court wondered why things were unmoved for nine long years.

Myanmar plans to set up seven more industrial zones in addition to the existing 18, official media reported Wednesday.

The seven planned new industrial zones will be Tatkon in Nay Phi Taw, Yadanarbon in Mandalay, Hpa-an, Myawaddy and Phayathonzu in Kayin state, Ponnagyun in Rakhine state and Namoum in Shan state, the ministry of industry was quoted by the New Light of Myanmar as saying.

National award-winning filmmaker Shyam Benegal feels films on Mahatma Gandhi should be screened more often as the lack of it would dwindle his memory forever.

“These films (on Gandhi) are important but they should be showed consistently, in schools, colleges and also on television. Unless there is a constant input of this kind, Gandhiji’s memory will become less and less as time goes on,” the 77-year-old said here Tuesday at a film festival titled “Bapu” organised to commemorate the 143rd birth anniversary of the Mahatma.

This film festival runs Oct 2-5.

A gender sensitive parliament can address social problems more insightfully, President Pranab Mukherjee said Wednesday.

“A gender sensitive parliament will have a greater success in achieving gender equality and prioritizing subjects important to women,” the president said while inaugurating the the 7th Meeting of the Women Speakers of Parliament on a gender sensitive parliament.

While a cacophony of protests rose against the anti-ritualistic attack on religion in Umesh Shukla’s “Oh My God”, the film’s leading man and co-producer Paresh Rawal remains unfazed.

The film is an adaptation of his Gujarati play “Kanji Virrudh Kanji” and features him as an atheist.

“There was no fear of backlash at all. We were always very sure of what we were saying and doing on ritualistic religion and the way it controls the life of the common man,” said Paresh.

Smoking post a stroke erodes the brain’s capacity to solve problems, decision-making and memory, a study says.

The study by Hamilton General Hospital, Canada, tested mental abilities of 76 patients, including 12 smokers, with an average age of 67.5 years, using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) tool.

The MoCA exam tests patients with memory and problem solving questions and gives them a score out of 30. Smokers had a median MoCA score two points lower than non-smokers — 22 out of 30 compared to 24 out of 30.

From the banks of DuPage River in Chicagoland to the Shores of Hussain Sagar in Hyderabad – Telangana people across the world are saying with one voice – “Jai Telangana! Jai Jai Telangana!!”

Telangana families in Chicago area gathered at Riverwalk in Napervillle, a suburban town of Chicago to celebrate Bathukamma Festival on September 30th 20012. More than 500 people attended the event making it a grand success.

This could well be a new record. The top post at Islamabad’s Capital Development Authority (CDA) saw three changes within 24 hours.

Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf Monday ordered senior officer Javed Iqbal Awan to replace the incumbent Farkhand Iqbal, Dawn reported.

A while later, he had second thoughts and chose Syed Tahir Shahbaz. Awan was reassigned to head the National Highway Authority.

Farkhand Iqbal promptly went to the Islamabad High Court to protest his removal.

The Establishment Division, which processes postings and transfer of government officers, was unruffled.

Indoor tanning beds can cause non-melanoma skin cancer, and the risk is greater the earlier one starts tanning, suggests a new scientific analysis.

Indoor tanning is already an established risk factor for malignant melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, but which is less common.

Now, the new study confirms that indoor tanning also significantly increases chances of non-melanoma skin cancers, the commonest of skin cancers, the British Medical Journal reported.

Pakistan can now produce “Class-I nuclear safety equipment” and manufacture spare parts for its nuclear stations under embargo conditions, a media report said.

Dawn reported that Pakistan has joined a group of countries that are certified to produce ‘Class-I nuclear safety equipment’, allowing it to locally manufacture spare parts for its nuclear power stations under embargo conditions and contribute towards a long-term nuclear energy programme.

Virender Sehwag is in doubt for the upcoming Champions League Twenty20 after he has been advised two weeks of rest because of ligament injury he sustained during India’s last Super Eights game in the ICC World Twenty20 against South Africa here.

Sehwag strained a ligament in his left ankle during South Africa’s innings last night and according to the Indian team’s media manager Dr R N Baba, the right-hander has been advised rest for 14 days.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has said that the heavy defeat against Australia in their first Super Eights game had a telling impact in his team’s ouster from the ICC World T20 even though he termed the side’s performance as ‘satisfactory’.

Delighted by the reduction in fuel prices, a Pakistani daily said Wednesday that “the benefits of an international downturn in fuel rates have been passed on to Pakistani consumers”.

The News International said in an editorial titled “A rare delight?” that news of price reductions is rare. “When it comes it is greeted with delight, even though in this case the 5.5 percent drop in fuel rates essentially brings us back to where we were a week or two ago, given the steep rises we have been seeing.”

High-tech startups founded by immigrants from India have grown phenomenally in US amidst a decline in immigrant entrepreneurs considered a critical source of fuel for the US economy, according to a new study.

The proportion of immigrant-founded companies in the US has slipped from 25.3 percent to 24.3 percent since 2005, according “America’s New Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Then and Now”, a Kauffman Foundation survey published Tuesday.

The drop is even more pronounced in Silicon Valley, where the percentage of immigrant-founded startups declined from 52.4 percent to 43.9 percent.

Representatives of Colombia’s FARC rebel group said that peace talks with the Andean nation’s government will begin Oct 15, a week later than originally announced.

Rebel negotiator Rodrigo Granda read from Havana on the Colombian station Blu Radio a communique he said was signed by both the FARC and the Colombian government.

Stressing that Gandhian way was a real, live option for ending conflicts and inequalities around the world, Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna hoped Gandhian truth and action would be embraced by all.

Presiding over a special event hosted by the Permanent Mission of India to United Nations to commemorate the International Day of Non Violence Tuesday, he also expressed the hope that leading global multilateral fora, such as the United Nations, would continue to be among its torchbearers.

Filmmakers Tabrez Noorani and Zafar Hai are bringing the story of “spy princess” Noor Inayat Khan on the big screen. The latter says it is an “international story” with an “Indian soul”.

The uncle-nephew duo of Hai and Noorani have acquired the rights of London-based Indian journalist-turned-author Shrabani Basu’s book “Spy Princess, The Life of Noor Inayat Khan” to adapt it on big screen.

While Noorani is based in Los Angeles, Hai is in Mumbai.

Stating that the United Progressive Alliance was trying to sell the country, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said Monday that she might bring a no-confidence motion against the government in the next parliament session.

Addressing a rally against economic reforms at Jantar Mantar here, the Trinamool Congress chief said she might bring a no-confidence motion against the government during the next parliament session.

Former Minister and Congress MLA, Mr. K.Venkata Reddy had declared yesterday that all the protesters of Telangana March would sit at Necklace Road till Telangana State is declared. If police wants to open fire, let them shoot us.

He pointed out that the Govt. permitted for holding Telangana March after licking the boots of the Andhra Chief Minister right from the morning two days back.