Hyderabad, June 14: It was a pink Friday at Satyam Computer Services, as over 10,000 employees of the beleaguered IT firm were preparing for an unhappy holiday. Over one fourth of Satyam’s workforce was a part of the virtual pool, an exercise implemented by its new owner Tech Mahindra to downsize the excess staff.
New Delhi, June 14: Gold prices extended losses for the third straight day in the bullion market on Saturday falling by Rs60 to close at Rs14,700 per ten grams as selling pressure picked up on the back of weakening global trend.
Silver also dropped by Rs 200 to Rs 22,800 per kg due to reduced offtake by industrial units. Selling pressure gathered momentum as the metal prices continued to slide in the international market as stronger dollar reduced demand as an alternative investment.
Chennai, June 14: A 27-year-old MBA graduate hanged herself at her residence in Virugambakkam on Friday afternoon, allegedly due to dowry harassment. The
body of Geetha Arthi, a resident of Mahalingapuram, Nungambakkam, was sent to the government hospital in Royapettah for autopsy.
Hyderabad, June 14: Tennis star Sania Mirza may be a millionaire but her face appears on a ration card belonging to a below poverty line (BPL) family in Andhra Pradesh.
The white ration card, which makes a family eligible to get rice at a highly-subsidised price of Rs 2-a-kg and social security benefits health insurance and a permanent housing, has been issued to one Laxmi of Vizianagaram district with a photograph of Sania.
Berlin, June 13: Amid strengthening of bilateral ties, India and Germany are set to work closely in several multilateral forums dealing with key global issues, India’s new envoy to the country has said.
Mr Sudhir Vyas, who presented his credentials to German President Horst Koehler at the presidential office, the Bellevue Castle, on Friday told PTI that promoting more Indian investments in this country will be part of his agenda, besides fostering cooperation in the fields of science and technology.
Islamabad, June 13: Terming the stepped up strikes by militants as an attack on the “sovereignty” of Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday underlined his determination to fight the Taliban insurgency to the end.
“We are fighting a war for our sovereignty,” Zardari said, responding to a spate of deadly terrorist attacks that have killed dozens across Pakistan.
In a televised address, the President called on the people to unite behind the anti-Taliban cause.
Srinagar, June 13: Bad weather conditions have forced the Amarnath shrine board to revise the dates of the annual Yatra along the traditional Pahalgam route even as the schedule of the pilgrimage via Baltal route will remain unchanged.
Due to continuous rain and snowfall at several points on the Pahalgam-Chandanwari route, it was not possible to open the Yatra along this trek till the weather improves, however the pilgrimage will take off from Jammu on scheduled date (June 15) via Baltal route, a spokesman of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) said on Saturday.
Dublin, June 13: Former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has launched a twin India-focussed initiative at the Trinity College in Dublin during a visit that helped spark a renewed interest in India at the 417-year-old university.
The university announced the establishment of an India chair and a post in Indian studies to coincide with Kalam’s visit on Friday – held amid a warming of India-Irish ties and plans for greater collaborations in education and science and technology.
Washington, June 13: Senior Al Qaeda leadership has come under “significant pressure” due to the ongoing military offensive by Pakistan Army against the Taliban in the Swat valley and adjoining western areas of the country, a Pentagon official has said.
As a result of the operations, it is increasingly becoming difficult for the top Al Qaeda leadership to move out of the area, the official said.
Bihar, June 13: In a setback to RJD chief Lalu Prasad, his close confidant and party’s national general secretary Shyam Razak on Saturday resigned from the Bihar Assembly.
He is likely to join the ruling JD(U) in a day or two in the presence of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and other senior party leaders here, a JD(U) spokesman claimed.
Razak submitted his resignation letter to secretary of the state assembly Surendra Prasad Sharma, who faxed it to Speaker Udai Narain Choudhary, currently in New Delhi.
Australia’s top diplomat in India
has admitted that the spate of attacks on Indians in his country has “damaged” bilateral ties and fears that the upcoming free trade talks may remain ‘quarantined’ among other things as a fallout.
Blaming the Indian media, particularly the ‘voracious’ 24-hour cable news channels for the ‘negative coverage’ of the attacks, Australian High Commissioner in New Delhi, John McCarthy said that the relationship between the two nations will take time to recover.
New Delhi, June 13: A 25-year-old final-year B.Sc. student allegedly killed his two daughters (one four years old and the other 18 months) and hacked their bodies into several parts with a sharp-edged object at Jever village in neighbouring Greater Noida on Thursday evening. Though he initially tried to dispose of the bodies, the accused apparently had a change of heart and walked up to the police station and confessed.
Mumbai, June 13: Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt wanted to attend the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards, but had to skip it because he was committed to shooting for Ajay Devgan’s ‘All The Best’, said a source close to the actor.
‘He couldn’t allow producer Ajay Devgan to suffer any more. For two months, Ajay waited patiently with his lavish set in Goa for Sanju to finish campaigning for the Samajwadi Party. Now Sanju’s conscience wouldn’t allow him a day’s delay. He stayed back in Goa to shoot and allowed his leading lady Bipasha Basu to attend the event,’ the source told IANS.
I’m Filipino-Russian-Hawaiian, but people think I’m from Pakistan,” Pussycat Dolls’ lead vocalist Nicole Scherzinger quipped. The Dolls were in Manila for a concert on the Mall of Asia grounds in Pasay City. Nicole was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to a Filipino father, Alfonso Valiente, and a Russian-Hawaiian mother. Her parents separated when she was still a baby. When she was 6, she relocated with her mother to Louisville, Kentucky.
Mumbai, June 13: A 21-year-old woman working as a singer in a bar was allegedly raped by the driver of an autorickshaw in which she was returning home in the wee hours of Friday. The driver was arrested when he was taking her home after the incident, the police said.
The alleged victim (name withheld to protect her identity) is a native of Delhi. She has been living with her sister at Four Bungalows in Mhada Colony in Andheri (W) for three years.
The driver, Pramod Amarnath Shukla, is a resident of Vaishali Nagar in Dahisar (E).
Aamir Khan has turned down the state government’s offer to campaign against child labour. The state labour ministry had been pursuing the actor for over four months.
Kavita Gupta, state labour secretary, said, “We felt Aamir was ideal for the campaign. It took us a while before we could meet and discuss the idea with him. We were told that he was busy with the election campaign, after which he was going abroad. We could only meet him after he returned. But unfortunately, he won’t be doing the campaign.”
Mumbai, June 13: Director Imitiaz Ali, who made the superhit movie ‘Jab We Met’ with Kareena Kapoor, has said that the bubbly actress did not fit the bill in his forthcoming film ‘Love Aaj Kal’ that features Deepika Padukone as the leading lady.
“Kareena is my favourite actor. But, I can’t cast her in a wrong role just for the sake of working with her. I have to be fair to her and her talent,” the filmmaker said justifying his decision not to repeat Kareena Kapoor.
Tehran, June 13: Anti-riot police guarded the offices overseeing Iran’s disputed elections on Saturday with the count pointing to a landslide victory by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, while his opponent denounced the results as “treason” and threatened a challenge.
New Delhi, June 23: Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni believed his batters and fielders were found wanting against West Indies in a Super Eight match against West Indies here on Friday. However, he didn’t give the credit where it was due the West Indian fast bowlers who wreaked havoc in Indian innings.
Mumbai, June 13: Producer Sajid Nadiadwala recently shot a scene for his film ‘Kambakkht Ishq’ with 150 artists in Hollywood actress Jessica’s Alba’s swimming pool.
The film starring Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor boasts of international stars like Brandon Routh, Sylvester Stallone and Denise Richards.
‘It is a well known fact that Denise Richards makes her Bollywood debut in the film. But, few know that her introductory scene was shot at Jessica Alba’s pool. Jessica was present too. It was quite a thing to have two of the hottest women around,’ said a source from the unit.
Islamabad, June 13: Tariq-ur-Rehman, one of ten Pakistani students detained by British police in April on terror-related charges, accused his prison guards of religious harassment and abuse.
“They committed sacrilege of Noble Qur’an many times,” a visibly moved Tariq told, on his arrival at Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Islamabad. “When we read the Qur’an, they came with sniffing dogs and let them sniff the Qur’an.
“We used to cry and begged them not to do that but they said it was their duty.”
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) not only totally ignored the subject of decoration and ornamentation while he was building and while he was overseeing others who were building during his lifetime, but he also, at a first glance, denounced the matter in several of his hadiths (traditions). In one of them, he is reported to have said that whenever a people’s performance (‘amal) weakens, they then start decorating their mosques.
Mumbai, June 13: Nandana Sen is in love The object of her affection isn’t a man. But a soft toy, a cat A friend revealed, “Nandana had purchased the soft toy from London. She was shopping when this cat caught her eye.
Nandana bought it then and there and immediately named it Lucifer.” So impressive are the looks of the cat that it looks real. “People confuse Lucifer to be a real cat and often tell Nandana to shoo it away before he comes closer to them.
Mumbai, June 13: If someone posed you a question like ‘What are you made up of?’ you are bound to say ‘Flesh and bones’.
But if you were to ask the same to the ever-so-affable Shahrukh Khan, then, he, with all his childish like charm bundled together, will bounce off saying ‘Tag Heur’. ‘What are you made up of?’ incidentally happens to be the catch line of the TAG Heur brand of watches, of which he is the Brand Ambassador!
Surat, June 13: An enraged mob severely beat up three men accused of gang-raping a 17-year-old girl here as a police team brought them for medical examination to a hospital in this Gujarat city Saturday.
The accused – Shahid Saiyad, Tariq Qutubuddhin Saiyad and Abu Bakr Sheikh – allegedly raped the girl in a moving car Friday. They also recorded the act on a video, according to police.
The three were brought for medical examination at the civil hospital here in the morning when patients and other visitors, on learning about the gang rape, beat them up severely, according to police.